Unseemly Beasts
by Miss Light Bright
Summary: Dragons. Destructive beasts tearing through everything in their path and deadly to anyone who opposes them. Midoriya has never seen a dragon, never planned to, but now he needs the help of one. He just... didn't want to kill one. Not if he could help it.
1. Chapter 1

Bakugou watched the little brigade move through the undergrowth of the forest from his perch in the trees. The group was an odd one, people he had not seen in his forest before. What were they here for? Were they here to threaten their peace? He grit his teeth as he watched them slash their way through the underbrush.

His eyes flicked to his side, a few trees over where Kirishima was sitting, eyebrows furrowed in concern. Bakugou knew from the concern on his friend's face, that he agreed that this did not look good for their clan. No one have ever made it this close to their nest.

He looked back the group, huffing. There was a man in a silver armor, likely a knight, using his large sword to swipe away at the vines and foliage, forcing a way through the thick green forest. Bakugou took note of it, realizing it could likely penetrate a dragon's scales.

His eyes went next to the princely figure on the white horse, his hair a combo of white and red. Bakugou didn't know what to make of that one, just that he was probably piece of shit, since he was just stoically riding along after like some kind of entitled prick.

There was a girl walking behind him with an oversized hat and a staff. It was the outfit of a sorcerer, a definite threat to his kind. He recalled a handful of his clan who had been forcibly bound by magic, the worst kind of torture…

And she was talking animatedly with green-haired boy, who held some sort of text in his gloved hands. He gestured to the book often as he talked. He seemed unassuming and unthreatening… Bakugou did not believe the get up one bit.

They all had shit taste in clothing.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed Kirishima shift. He turned, sending a quick glance at him, meeting each other's eyes, trying to communicate without speaking. _What should we do?_ Kirishima seemed to say with a flick of his chin towards the four invaders down below.

Bakugou sent him back a glowering glare and grinned slowly. _We fucking stop them in their tracks._

Kirishima nodded, his own smile flashing back, showing his natural razor teeth before shoving off the tree disappearing into the rest of the trees. Only the soft brushing of leaves was evidence that was even there.

Bakugou took one glance back at the group, narrowing his eyes, before disappearing himself in a silent backflip.

* * *

Midoriya noticed a fluttering of leaves off to his left and paused mid-sentence, catching the swaying of branches high above them. Nothing was there now, but he felt a creeping sensation that something had been watching them.

"Midoriya?" Uraraka questioned, glanced back at him.

He turned back, jumping slightly to see Uraraka right in front of him. Todoroki and Iida had already pulled ahead a few steps, leaving Uraraka and him behind. "Oh, sorry," he fumbled, almost dropping the book in his hands.

"Hmm?" Todoroki hummed looking back at the pair of them. "Huh, I thought it got kind of quiet for second there," he said with a slight smile.

Uraraka pulled Midoriya by the wrist to hurry up behind them. "Uh, am I talking too much?" Midoriya asked, falling in line with the group again, rubbing his now-free hand at the back of his neck.

"No," Iida said, continuing to force the way through the thick underbrush ahead of them with a slice of his sword. "It is better to be prepared with a risk this big."

"Right," Uraraka agreed with a nod. "Please continue."

Midoriya glanced back down at his book which depicted a drawing of a raging dragon, breathing fire and smoke into the binding of the book. Midoriya almost closed the book due to his crackling nerves. "So it says that we have to be polite to the dragon, never laugh in the face of a dragon…"

"What, this book expects us to try to make conversation with the dragon?" Todoroki asked with a frown. "Aren't we here to steal its scales?"

Midoriya flinched. "I think it wouldn't hurt to ask the dragon first, before we uhh…"

"Mutilate it?" Iida sighed, looking back at them.

Midoriya felt himself deflate slightly. "I don't want to hurt it if we don't have to."

Uraraka looked just as upset as she did. "I think it's going to hurt either way… ripping a scale off of a dragon's body?"

Groaning, Midoriya dropped his head, hiding his face into his book. "We're going to have to have to fight it, aren't we?"

"Most likely," Iida called behind him as the continued forward, "but we need those scales. This is a life or death situation—"

Something shifted in the trees above them, and they all stopped in their tracks, staring upwards at the empty, swaying leaves. "You don't think the dragons are listening, do you?" Midoriya asked, laughing nervously.

"No, of course not," Uraraka shot back, "dragons don't live in the forest, they live by the volcanos, right Midoriya?"

"According to the book…"

"I'm pretty sure that we would be able to notice a giant dragon flying around in here, considering we can barely get through it on foot," Iida said shortly and continued to brush through the trees, continuing to choose the paths that would fit Todoroki's large trotting horse.

"Yeah of course we would!" Uraraka smiled, holding her staff closer to her chest.

Midoriya took another glance at the trees, looking all around before following the group. "Yeah, you guys are probably right…"

"No, you would be right," Uraraka said, turning to walk backwards while she talked to him. "You are the one who has read every book on dragons from cover to cover on the whole journey here."

"Well, that was only three book…" he replied, rubbing his nose uncomfortably.

"Hush, everything will be fine!" She grinned. "Besides, you have us on your side!"

Midoriya found himself brightening up. That's right! He wasn't alone, despite how he had started out on this quest.

"Come on boys," Uraraka cried with a wave her staff. The magic sparked from it, clearing out a path in the trees beyond Iida's outstretched sword. "Let's pick up the pace and get those scales!"

Iida stood in shock as the three marched past him into the newly cleared path. "Really, you couldn't have done that in the first place?"

"You didn't ask!"


	2. Chapter 2

Bakugou glared up at the great red dragon that stood before him and crossed his arms over his bare chest. "Kirishima… you've got to be fucking kidding me."

The dragon tilted his head, his eyes flashing with determination and his tongue lolling out of the side of his razor-sharp teeth. The small puffs of smoke from his nostrils and mouth came loud pants as the dragon stood attention.

"You look like an idiot," Bakugou said, exasperated. "Haven't you scared anyone lately?"

Kirishima tilted his head the other way. If Kirishima could smile in this form, Bakugou was sure the idiot would do it. Instead, Kirishima growled at him with another puff of smoke, indignation written in the sway of his tail.

Rolling his eyes, Bakugou approached Kirishima and stopped just short. "Look, you better take this serious. We need to get these guys outta here before they get close to the nest. Got it?"

Kirishima crouched, his face morphing into one of pure blood lust, and with a swing of his shoulders, he let loose his full wing span with a roar loud enough to shake the trees. The fire of his roar encircled the clearing, just enough to singe the top of the blades of grass.

Bakugou grinned. "That's more like it." He backed up and took a running start and jumped, flipped up onto the dragon, catching onto the hardened red scales of the dragon. He easily hoisted himself into the middle of his back, balancing there easily. Patting the back of Kirishima's neck before clambering up higher near the horns on the dragon's head, he commanded, "Let's go scare their dumb asses."

With another roar, Kirishima took off. Bakugou held onto Kirishima's horns and glanced down at the forest. Now they just had to lure the fools out.

* * *

The forest shook with a loud roar, the leaves fluttering at a puff of wind. "Was that..?!" Uraraka cried out.

"Yeah!" Midoriya cried out, snapping his book shut and storing it away in the storage pouch on the side of Todoroki's saddle. "It's close!"

They had been ready to trudge up the sharp angles of the nearby mountain to get a good vantage point to search for the nearby hot lands, but they must be closer than they realized! "Come on, we need to get somewhere we can see the skies. We might be able to track it that way!"

"Get on," Todoroki said, holding out his hand to Midoriya. Midoriya took it immediately, hoisting himself up onto the horse with his new friend. "We'll go on ahead and meet you there," Todoroki called to the others.

"Got it!" Uraraka called. Iida nodded his agreement.

With no further delay, the horse took off, leaving Midoriya to scrabble to hold onto the back of Todoroki, hands curling into the back of his shirt. The horse easily dodged its way through the forest as it began to thin out. Midoriya's eyes widened at the almost sudden change of landscape. It appeared as if the trees in this area had been totally desecrated by a landslide; New foliage was only just sprouting and making its way into the damaged soil.

The horse neighed as its stomping hooves sank into the soot, but they continued to clomp across the uneven ground as the clearing began to fill with a heavy smoke. Midoriya breathed in sharply at the ominous sight, his heart pounding in his chest as they headed blindly into the haze, but immediately coughed as he choked on the fumes.

Todoroki slowed his horse, becoming cautious of the terrain ahead. "Perhaps we should wait for the others," he said, turning slightly to eye Midoriya. "We could use Uraraka's magic and Iida's training."

"Yeah," Midoriya said softly, his voice sharp against the growing silence. "We are going to need all of the help we can get." A chill went down his spine as they came to halt; once again he felt the creeping sensation of watchful eyes.

He dismounted as carefully and as quietly as he could, Todoroki hopped down after. Midoriya glanced at Todoroki, murmuring, "I think I will get a bit closer. Can you keep an eye out for the others?"

Todoroki nodded. "Just call if you need help."

Midoriya did not respond but patted the white horse as he passed, stepping lightly into the mist. Glancing behind him, Todoroki's shadow slowly disappeared and his heart pumped faster, his fear heightening. He wished he knew how to engage the dragon without fighting it. He wished there was a way to get the scales without hurting the beast.

But… he needed one. Not only did he need one, but Iida, Uraraka, and Todoroki did too. They all had loved ones they needed to save. And this was the only way they knew how. They had all happened upon one another by chance, by fate, and he believed they were united for this very reason. Really, one scale would be enough, if they split it evenly amongst themselves…

A large roar cut Midoriya's thoughts short. He gasped, covering his ears as the noise rolled over him and the heat of this place almost grew hotter. He coughed, eyes stinging, as another wave of smoke billowed through the air.

Midoriya grit his teeth and covering his nose with his gloves. He needed to get closer and confirm that the dragon was indeed there before he went back to the others. Stepping forward, closer yet, when Midoriya halted in his tracked. A great shadow was cast against a glowing light, the smoke dissipating around its huge form.

Midoriya trembled.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, but before he knew it, his companions had caught up. "Midoriya!" Uraraka called, reaching him quickly. Sweat was dripping from her face.

"Shhhh…" Midoriya silence her. He pointed up to the shadow just visible up ahead.

Uraraka breathed out steadily, pulling together her resolve. "Let's do our best," she said. Todoroki led the horse closer, Iida unsheathed his sword, and Uraraka took a step ahead of all of them. She waved her staff and a burst of wind went forth, clearing the smoke as it went.

There, in front of them was a precipice, surrounded by flowing lava from two towering volcanoes. The sky was cloudy and stormy, and in the middle of it all was a great red dragon.

Midoriya stiffened in fear, but not at the sight of the dragon, but of the man who stood on the dragon's back. He and the dragon roared in unison and Midoriya jolted at the sound, the others doing the same.

The noise died down and the man leaned against the dragon great horns, his stone necklaces jangling together, his crimson eyes flashing murderously. "What do you want in this place?" the stranger's voice rang out rough and threateningly.

Uraraka glanced back at him, a panicked question mark written over her face. They had not prepared to encounter a man with the dragon.

"Uh-uh!" Midoriya cried out, stumbling forward. His hands were shaking and sweating beneath his gloves. "Well, we…" He glanced at his friends.

"Spit it out!" the guy hollered.

Midoriya stared. He'd never seen a person like him. His blonde hair was sprinkled with ash, his chest was bare but he wore a cape with white fur adorning the collar, and tribal tattoos creeped down his forearms.

"We-We've come to ask for the dragons' help!"

"Hah?" the man said tilting his head. The dragon did the same, as if understanding. "Why the hell would the dragons help you?"

Midoriya remembered his mother at home, who was lying ill in her bed. "We have loved ones who were Blighted," Midoriya said. "And we need a dragon scale."

The crimson dragon reared angrily at the words, roaring wildly, and it raised its wings up protectively, almost blocking their view of the man on its back. The man patted a hand against the dragon's horn and said something inaudible, then turned his dark glare upon Midoriya again.

Midoriya's heart pounded in his ears.

"You will not find any healing power in the dragons here," the man said. The dragon roared as if to agree.

With heart sinking, he looked at his friends. They looked as horrified as he. "That can't be true! We were told a dragon scale can heal a Blight!"

"Well you were lied to!" the man hollered. "Any dragon you mutilate here will not bring you what you need. There is no cure for a Blight!"

"And just who are you to know this?" Iida yelled, his anger boiling over.

"The dragon king," the man replied, a wicked smile striking over his features. "Now get out of here. If I see any of you around again, I will strike every last one of you dead."

Midoriya cried out as the dragon took off, leaving the four below in their wake. "No!" He needed that scale for his mother. His mother was dying!

His eyes prickled with tears but he kept an eye on the man, memorizing his shape. He would find them again, and he would find a way to save his mother one way or another.

* * *

 **Sorry for the late update everyone! My goal now is to update weekly with the new season episodes coming out! Hold me to it, okay?**


	3. Chapter 3

When they landed onto the base of their mountain and Bakugou had safely hopped off, Kirishima immediately morphed back into his human form. He instantly crowded into Bakugou's space, nudging his shoulder. "Did you hear what they said?" he cried out.

"Shhhh!" Bakugou hissed at him, searching the trees behind him for anyone that may be listening. "Fuck, I know, I was there too."

"They're after-!"

"Yes, I know," Bakugou said, pushing past him, flexing his fingers dangerously. His mind was racing. Where had the fuckers found out that this particular forest is where they could find the scales they were searching for? He had thought no one would know that this is where they now resided. Though, not surprisingly, the idiots didn't seem to know that not any old dragon would give them what they needed… There was only one type of dragon that would have the scales they were seeking. But… that meant everyone was in trouble.

Kirishima caught up to him, grabbing onto his shoulder. His brows were drawn together in worry. "Dude, your mom is going to flip."

Bakugou snarled. "We aren't telling that hag anything!"

"But-!"

"Not. One. Word. Got it?" he said, turning on his friend. "She would never let me out of the nest if she knew."

Kirishima smiled uneasily. "But isn't that kind of for the best in this case?"

Bakugou glared. "Fuck no. I can take care of myself." He again flexed his fingers, itching to tear them apart now, to engulf them in flames. He wouldn't let anyone touch him or anyone else.

A look of worry flickered across Kirishima's face. "Well, I'm sticking with you regardless. Don't want you to ambushed while you are out taking a piss."

"What did you say to me?!"

Kirishima laughed. "Aw, come on, Bakubro! I'm just worried."

"Shut the fuck up, I know what I'm doing," he said, turning on his heals and trudging up the mountain. "Let's go back before the old hag has an aneurism wondering where we went."

They climbed up the steep edges with practiced bare feet. Kirishima started humming to himself, that usual annoying shit he did when he was nervous or thinking too hard. Bakugou listened to his tuneless humming for a few seconds before snarling again. "Would you stop that?"

"Do you think we should tell the Bakusquad about this?"

Bakugou's eyes flashed as he conjured up the image of the ones he was talking about: Ashido, Kaminari, and Sero. "Fuck, no. They will blow this shit out of proportion, just like my old hag."

"So, we're keeping this a secret?" Kirishima questioned, looking absolutely miserable.

"Yes," Bakugou growled, flashing a determined smile. He could get rid of the weaklings himself, he wouldn't even need the help of Kirishima… But Kirishima likely won't let him out of his sight now. "I'm not a precious princess."

"No, you're the _Dragon King_ ," Kirishima mocked as he stepped over a fallen tree. He shot a smug grin behind him, eyes crinkling in amusement.

"Shut up, I only said that for dramatic effect."

"Saying _Dragon Princess_ would have been waaaaaay more accurate," Kirishima laughed.

Bakugou roared, indignation flaring in his throat. "Get back here shitty hair! I think I need to teach you a lesson!"

"You'll have to catch me first!" Kirishima yelled back and without any further warning, he bolted off, disappearing into the trees.

"Kirishima, get the fuck back here!" Bakugou hollered, chasing after his friend.

* * *

After Midoriya's tears had long dried, the four companions had made their way back into the forest. The light of the day was waning, the sun just hovering at the edge of the horizon. Their walk was silent as they did so, not one of them have hardly spoken since they had left the hazy barren hotlands. Each was covered in sweat, walking in the sweltering heat. Todoroki had even lost his horse in the midst the confrontation. Midoriya had not even noticed when the horse had bolted off.

They were crunching through the thick weeds and vegetation when Uraraka spoke up. "So, what now?"

"We certainly can't leave," Iida sighed. "Even if what that brute said is true, we have to be sure."

Todoroki hummed. "Where are we going to stay then? Are we going to camp out here or walk back the village we passed through on the way here?" He tugged at his clothes, clearly uncomfortable with the restricting shape of it.

Iida shook his head. "That was six hours out, we would be walking most of the night. We can camp by a stream here for the night, take turns on watch and then head out at first light. We will need to gather supplies and get some intel about the so-called 'Dragon King.' See if anyone has heard of him."

"What about you, Midoriya, what do you think?" Uraraka asked, leaning towards him.

Midoriya jolted; he had been staring out into the darkening trees as he had listened to them, slowly slipping into his own thoughts. "Well," he said, rubbing the back of his head in a fluster. "I think it's a pretty good idea. We need to know what we are up against if we run into that guy again."

Uraraka nodded. "I can take first watch then. I kinda like staying up late," she laughed, fiddling with her staff.

"And I'll take last shift," Iida said, "that way I can make sure we leave promptly at dawn."

Midoriya nodded, glancing back to the darkness again, his mind going back to the Dragon King. His stomach was churning still from the encounter and he was almost impressed with how the others were holding themselves together. If what the Dragon King had said was correct, they were all doomed. Their loved ones would all slowly succumb to the disease called the Blight.

It wasn't exactly common to have a Blight. It was said to be a curse that was inflicted upon the most wicked of souls… But that couldn't be possible! Midoriya's mother, Inko, was the most beautiful person in this world. She believed in him even when he screwed up so many things.

But now she had this Blight. It started out almost unnoticeable, a bruise here and there, but it soon becomes obvious that the purple discoloring wasn't just a bruise. The skin and flesh were dying. With the disease, the entire body fails, starting from outside and then creeping in. His mother was only just newly infected, so he had a lot of time since it was a slow but devastating disease… but he did not know how far along his companion's loved ones were in the Blight.

He glanced at the others. He had only met them a few days ago, but he felt a familiarity with them already. For their sake and his mother's, he would push past the fear that was creeping in his chest and figure this out. He would.

* * *

Bakugou was cuffed on the head roughly. "Where have you been brat?" his mother, Mitsuki, practically shouted when he got back to their little village.

Other villagers snickered as they noticed the commotion. It was a common occurrence to see Mitsuki bully her youngling. Bakugou glared scathingly at the villagers but they paid him no mind. "I was out with Kirishima, chill," he said, ducking out of her grasp.

He glanced around for his friend, but he had disappeared into the caves at the far end. Bakugou silently cursed him, that traitor.

Their nest held around 50 dragons, some having stronger powers or abilities than others. The location they now lived in was in the side of a mountain in a remote area of the Great Forest and there, looking over an unoccupied valley, was the safest place for them now. Most who lived here had last loved ones not too long ago, many of the younglings being orphaned… like Kirishima.

Bakugou was actually really lucky to have both of his parents still.

So, he swallowed down his annoyance, knowing well how protective she can be. "Can I go now?"

Mitsuki pursed her lips. "Everything okay out there?" she asked.

He had to force himself to not look away. "No, nothing… though I think the trolls are trying to fuck with our plants again."

Mitsuki's somber look perked up, smirking. "They never quit. No worries, that can be easily taken care of."

Masaru came by, slinging a warm embrace around Mitsuki's waist lovingly. "You should get some rest," he told her. "Our patrol is early in the morning."

Clicking his tongue, Bakugou turned away in embarrassment at their display.

Mitsuki's momentary calm was gone instantly. "Don't click your tongue at your parents, brat! This is a loving relationship, got it?"

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. Just let me go to sleep. I'm going to have to take care of this village while your asses are gone."

"Good idea, Katsuki," his father grinned, with a clap of his palm against his shoulder. "You will have to be alert for us, but I know you will do well."

Bakugou grunted, feeling his face heat up just a bit. "Good night," he said, turning to sweep away before they could embarrass him anymore.

"Be sure to be up at dawn to see us off!" Mitsuki called after him. "Don't be late, brat!"

"Okay, you hag!" he said, his eye twitching in his simmering annoyance.

Others around him laughed, still entertained by his exchange with his parents. He gave them all one last glare before stomping off in the direction of his cave.

* * *

Bakugou couldn't sleep, too many things were racing through his mind, but the main occupant of his mind was the ragtag group of intruders to his forest. Were they still out there, waiting to follow the most unsuspecting person back to their nest? He couldn't stop thinking about how that witch girl could literally devastate their small village if she knew the right magic.

He huffed to himself, turning roughly in the furs that made his nest, and then laid there in quiet, staring mutely up at the cave ceiling. Maybe he should have told his parents about them. Was he just inevitably putting his village in danger?

He turned again, growing restless in the warm night air. Frowning, he shook his head in disagreement to himself. Didn't he already establish that those fuckers were a bunch of weaklings? Laying still, he pondered that idea, trying with all his might to believe himself.

After a few heartbeats, he sat up roughly. He couldn't take it; his skin was crawling with the nagging feeling that they would find them before long. He really should have taken them out when he had the chance.

Nearby, across the cave, Bakugou could hear the echoing breathing of his parents. Unlike him, his parents liked to sleep in their dragon forms. From what he understood, a lot of the older dragons slept this way, mostly to keep their senses heightened when they slept.

As gingerly as he could, Bakugou stood from his nest of furs, grabbed his fur cape nearby but didn't bother putting it on. Instead, he held it close to him as he traveled on nimble feet past his parents.

His mother's pale almost white figure twitched as he tiptoed by. Bakugou froze instinctively as she shifted, nuzzling closer into Masaru's earth-toned scales. Once she was settled again, he quickly made his way out of the cave's mouth and into the soft sounds of crickets and owls of their side of the mountain.

He hurried along, lacing the cape over his shoulders and securing it as he slipped into the trees. His feet stumbled in the dark as he made his way down the side of steep mountain, trying to be careful of obstacles hidden in the shadows. Against common belief, dragons did not have good night vision. In fact, that's why most dragons were seen in daylight or in the shadows of their fire-breath.

Bakugou slowed as he came to the small stream that flowed down the side of the mountain. His home was about halfway up the mountain while the stream came from the glacial peaks. He suspected that little group was likely camping somewhere near the base of his mountain by the stream or near where it met the river.

He passed through the forest like a ghost, taking a practiced route towards his desired location. The water bubbled as he followed it and he tried his best to acclimate his eyes to the darkness but not achieving much in results. Instead, he opened his mouth just slightly to take in a deep breath to search for the scent of _human_ in the air. Typically, humans smelt of sweat, earth, and chemicals from the clothes they wore, and this group of four humans were no exception.

Finding the vague scent of the humans, he followed it away from the stream in the direction he hoped was correct. The scent led him not far from the brook but further downstream. As he crept closer, he became aware of the thudding of his heart and how handicapped he was if they ambushed him in the dark… But he had to know where they were, he needed to be able to track them.

His pupils constricted as he found a flicker of light up ahead. Cautiously, he crouched as he slunk closer, making his movements slow and calculated. His breath was held as he crept down the slight slope above the crackling campfire, and then paused behind a tree several paces away.

Looking down at them, Bakugou spotted the witch lying behind the fire, using her hat as a pillow, sleeping soundly. Not far from her was the knight, his armor dismantled in a pile at the edge of the clearing, and he laid vulnerable in his tunic. Bakugou's palms itched at the thought of attacking him in his sleep; he would be utterly helpless. On the other side of the witch was the princely fucker that looked he shouldn't be out here, sleeping on the ground, using his arms as his pillows.

Lastly, the smallest boy sat in front of the crackling fire on a stone. His back was to Bakugou as he poked the fire with a stick, his green hair almost glowing in this light.

Bakugou stood still, watching them silently sleep and the boy continue to poke the fire. After a few moments, it became clear they were only going to continue to sleep and that the boy was on watch duty. He wondered what their plan was now?

He exhaled slowly, satisfied by knowing their position. Tomorrow he will have to keep an eye on them while the patrol was out of the village. But for now, he should get back home before his parents realize he is gone.

Taking a step backwards, he turned to leave. But with another step, a twig snapped below his bare foot. He winced at the sound, his head whipping back towards the camp.

The boy had jumped up in surprise, his head turned towards the sound.

It was too late, Bakugou was out in the open. His heart thudded loudly in his ears as vision tunneled on this boy whose green eyes met his in surprise. _Fuck._

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the new chapter! I am off to watch the new episode of My Hero now! Thanks for your comments and support!**


	4. Chapter 4

Midoriya inhaled sharply, heart thumping in his chest. The sound behind him, that he thought was just an animal in the woods, was the man… from earlier… who had threatened them. He didn't know to be more terrified or excited to see this man again.

His eyes met the blood red irises of the stranger and Midoriya realized two things. One, this man had been watching them, for who knows how long. Two, the widening of his eyes made Midoriya believe that he was feeling as uneasy as Midoriya felt.

As if drawn towards him, Midoriya took a few steps away from the flames and towards this person. He wanted to ask him so many questions, to find out if he was truly telling the truth about the dragons. Was his mother doomed?

The stranger's eyes flicked down at Midoriya's feet with the steps he had taken and then back up at his face. His eyes angles downwards in a renewed glare, as if daring Midoriya to even try to come closer.

Midoriya steeled himself, feeling his heart pump faster under the watchful gaze of the Dragon King. He had to know, he had to ask him. He moved his leg, to take another step, but stopped. The man had tensed, slightly curling into a defensive stance. He was going to bolt.

"Wait," Midoriya said softly as to not awaken his companions, finally taking the step, arm outstretched.

As if on cue, the man bolted, shaking the undergrowth in his wake as he fled. Midoriya did not hesitate, did not look back, and took off in pursuit of this person.

Midoriya was not fast, not very coordinated, not very toned. But, he had a mission. With that mission to save his mother in mind, he forced his muscles to work, pushing after the fast, wild man. The only way he knew was running in the right direction was the sound of feet pounding along the forest floor in front of him, the shake of leaves, and a glimpse of a red cape from time to time as he turned a corner.

"Wait!" Midoriya called after him, struggling to keep up. "Please! Please help us!"

The man did not stop, as they came upon a stream and he suddenly turned sharp left to follow the babbling brook. Midoriya did his best to follow, skidding on rocks and dirt as he turned. He gasped, as his feet skid dangerously close to the water's edge, his arms wind-milling, but as soon as he caught his balance, he took off again in the direction the man had gone.

Midoriya zigzagged back and forth, suddenly terrified because he had lost sight of the man and he had no idea where he was. His breath was coming in pants as he ran along the stream, but he did not see the man.

Eventually the stream's mouth opened up into a larger pool of water where it connected to the river. Midoriya allowed himself to slow his run until he had huffily come to a stop. He rested his gloved hands onto his thighs, trying to catch his shallow breath. Tears pricked at the edge of his eyes again. He had lost the Dragon King and now he was lost himself.

"The fuck do you want?" A voice startled Midoriya into standing at full height.

In front of him was a fallen tree that arched over the pool of water, arcing just like something out of a story book. The moonlight glittered over the calm, trickling waters, and it cast a soft gray glow on the silhouette of the boy Midoriya had been looking for. And his eyes, they almost seemed to glow in this dark. It took Midoriya's breath away, looking at this fierce figure crouched proudly on the fallen tree, hand gripping one branch on the left.

"I-" Midoriya started, but his voiced choked on itself.

"Spit it out," the dark figure growled.

Midoriya watched the man intently. When he had seen the guy on the back of the dragon, he had seemed like a warrior, a man with a bloodthirst… But here, in the light, the guy looked younger, felt more attainable. He had the eyes of a cornered animal.

"I'm Midoriya," he said. Midoriya could have killed himself with his words. Instead of making the man more comfortable, his eyes narrowed at him.

"Do you have a death wish?" the man asked.

"No," Midoriya said, wringing his hands together, looking down for a moment. "I was just thinking maybe…"

"You weren't thinking. You're a fool for following me. I could kill you in an instant," the guy sneered.

 _But he won't._ Midoriya knew, just by looking at this boy's defensive but proud crouch. He was more curious and fearful in this moment than murderous. "Who are you? Are you really a Dragon King?"

"Yes, but I'm not giving you my name. You don't deserve it."

Midoriya took a step forward tentatively, testing the other with his approach. The other did not shrink back, did not move an inch, but his eyes watched the movement warily. So Midoriya took another and another, and a few more until he was standing before the base of the overturned tree.

"The fuck are you doing?" the boy asked, still unmoving.

Midoriya said nothing and hoisted himself onto the large tree trunk and placed his feet steadily on the tree trunk and used his hands to stabilize himself on the still-living branches of the tree to guide himself closer to the boy in front of him. As he shuffled closer, he could tell he was making the other uncomfortable, his muscles flexed under the moonlight, visibly tensing.

He only stopped when he was mere feet from him. At this close, Midoriya could observe the boy properly. He wore almost nothing; only a cape around his shoulders and battered pants hanging loosely from his hips. His feet were bare, balancing perfectly on the curve of the tree, and a delicate necklace of stones or gems laced his collar bones. He had what appeared to be tribal tattoos winding down his arms. Midoriya wondered what they meant.

"What is your name?" Midoriya asked forcefully.

The boy's mouth was hanging open, eyebrow twitching. "You really have the nerve to ask me that question?"

"I was thinking we could be friends."

"No," he said, his glare back, "you only want scales to cure the already dead."

Anger boiled through his veins and he clenched his hands onto the branches around him. He forced himself to compose himself with a sharp intake of air. Gritting his teeth, he said, "It's true, I do want to save my mother… But I don't want to do it by hurting your dragons, or… or you."

The boy scoffed. "You're a good liar. What a great innocent act you have going on." He leaned forward, a grin growing menacingly on his face. "You can't trick me, you bastard. I know what you are here for, what your stupid friends want. And I can tell you right now, you aren't going to get it."

"But-"

"Shut the fuck up," he growled, leaning closer yet. Midoriya couldn't help but lean away. The man in front of him no longer like a cornered animal. He looked like a deadly beast. "Stay away from my dragons."

"No," Midoriya said forcefully. His hands shook but he stopped himself from leaning away anymore. "I have people I need to save, who are counting me. And if you could just get me one scale, just one-"

The boy grabbed his collar, shaking him roughly. "Don't you get it, you piece of shit? Stay away from my family!" His eyes were wild, crazed, but Midoriya's mind was stuck on one word.

"Family?"

Shock registered in the boy's red eyes. He had given away a piece of information that he didn't want Midoriya to know, but Midoriya wasn't sure how to relate it. What did this mean? Did this mean he was—?

"Fuck you! Die!"

"Die?" Midoriya squeaked back. But it was too late. The boy had lunged at him, pushing him forcefully off of the tree trunk. Midoriya cried out in surprise as he hurtled off the few feet into the water. It wasn't anything to kill him, but the terror ceased him regardless. He had never learned how to swim!

He hit the water with a splash. His limbs flailed as he struggled upwards out of the water. When his body breached the waters, he coughed maniacally from the water he had breathed in, and he splashed wildly, almost unseeing as the panic consumed him.

Suddenly something clamped onto his feet. Hands upon hands were added onto the grip on his legs. They yanked him under the water and he screamed as he went underneath.

Water filled his mouth and nose as he screamed, and he choked. He struggled in the black waters against the hands dragging him further and further down, kicking wildly at the beings, the demons that were holding onto him, but they did not relent.

His body was becoming heavy and he realized with a flash of fear that he was drowning, that he was going to die. _I'm sorry Mom. I'm sorry…_

Slowly, he struggling came to stop and he allowed himself to sink further into the darkness. It was more painful than anything he had ever experienced before but it was almost like sleeping or watching his body from afar.

And with his last glimpse of the world, a flash of bright golden light blinded him.

* * *

Bakugou watched the boy called Midoriya get dragged down by the blood-thirsty mermaids with a mixed feeling of satisfaction and guilt. He tried to convince himself, as he watched the water bubble, that this was for the best. Midoriya was going to get his buddies together anyway and hunt him and his family down. It was only matter of time. So really… he was just saving them both time.

The bubbles stopped as the boy was pulled deeper into the deep pool and Bakugou looked away, his skin itching, unsettled. "He deserved it," he hissed through gritted teeth.

But as soon as he looked away, a sudden heavenly golden ray of light burst through the pitch-black waters, filling the clearing with light. Bakugou shielded his eyes but leaned wide eyed into the pool as the light illuminated the outline of Midoriya and the several mermaids around him.

As quick as the light came, it went again. Bakugou could see nothing once again as the light died and as the mermaids surely continued to drown the boy.

"Get off of him, you bitches!" Bakugou hollered before throwing himself off of the edge of the tree, plunging in after the boy, not even thinking as he sunk into the depths he could not see in.

The mermaids grabbed at him as well, but he kicked them off, and they backed off as soon as they realized who he was. He held his breath painfully as he kicked desperately down in the waters. He had no idea how he would find Midoriya in this.

A hand grabbed his from within the water. Bakugou flinched away, but the mermaid swam down further, taking him with and suddenly Bakugou understood. This bitch of a mermaid was leading him towards the drowning boy.

The hand let him go and Bakugou reached out blindly. His fingers brushed fabric and he hoisted it towards him, Midoriya soft hair tickling his nose. The mermaids had let Midoriya go, but they were now both towards the bottom of the pool, drowning. There was no fucking way he was going to drown because of this nerd.

He wrapped an arm around the kid and swam aggressively upwards, lungs screaming as he hurtled along. Hands once again grabbed onto him, helping him to drag the boy upwards towards the surface. _These bitchy mermaids_ , Bakugou thought fondly and fiercely as they swam upwards.

It felt like an eternity as Bakugou's lungs spilled the air out of his lips, but suddenly his head broke the surface. He coughed immediately but did his best to drag Midoriya with him to the water's edge.

The mermaids watched him silently as he scrabbled at the dirt bank, pulling himself onto it one handedly and then dragging Midoriya up after him, water pouring from Midoriya's heavy clothes onto the dirt. Midoriya's body landed with a thud and Bakugou collapsed, heaving and coughing up water, but he kept an eye on the boy beside him. He wasn't breathing.

"Fuck!" he hollered, pushing himself onto shaky hands and knees and pulling Midoriya towards him, the boy's feet still in the water. "What do I do?"

"Midoriya?" a voice cried.

Bakugou spun and came face to face to the brown-haired girl Midoriya had been traveling with. They froze for an instant at the sight of each other, but only for a heartbeat. "Get away from him!" She screamed.

Terrified, Bakugou flinched back. He had killed her companion. He had to get out of here before she killed him. With heart pounding, he stood, and with one last glance at the girl, he took off into the woods.

Fuck. He was a murderer.

* * *

 **Thank you for sticking with me, everyone!**


	5. Chapter 5

Bakugou's mind was racing as he made his slow ascent back up the mountain side. Emotions he didn't want to acknowledge were gnawing at him and he grit his teeth, trying to push everything aside. If he came back to the camp distressed, his shitty mother would know in a matter of seconds. Not to mention that he was currently drenched from the mermaid's pool, which he shouldn't be shivering from in this warm summer heat, but nonetheless he was shaking.

However, the thought that plagued him the most was that golden light. There was only one being in the forest he had seen with a similar light, but there was no way Midoriya could be connected to _that._

Not that it mattered, Midoriya was probably dead anyway.

His steady steps came to a stop as he stared up at his mountain, his stomach pitting with dread. He… had never killed anyone before. Would his mother be disappointed? What would Kirishima and the others think if he had purposely tried to drown a puny human that can't fight worth shit?

His teeth ground together and he crouched down, pressing his forehead against his knees. He just had to forget about it. He just… had to wait till he was dry and he would slip back into his nest before anyone woke up.

* * *

Midoriya woke with a gasping breath, swinging his achy, dripping body into an upright position as he violently coughed up the water in his lungs. His throat burned as he hacked, pressing his forearm to his lips as he hunched, trying to make sense of his surroundings. Someone was talking to him, touching him but he couldn't focus on it while his lungs were bursting this way.

"Midoriya," someone was saying, their voice cracking.

After another gasping breath, he managed to look up at the person beside him. Oh. Uraraka. He wheezed once more, the two watching each other.

She was kneeling beside him, her staff on the forest floor beside them, and her hands were outstretched. Her fingers weren't actually touching him, but near enough to catch him if he fell backwards.

Midoriya's eyes widened as he remembered the events that transpired a few moments ago. He turned his head, searching the clearing. "Where'd he go?" he croaked, turning back to Uraraka.

"Are you serious?" Quickly her concerned expression turned to one of anger. "Gone. He tried to kill you!" She looked away to pull her staff towards herself and gripping it her chest. "You were almost dead. If I wasn't there, I…" She looked up, her eyes glittering with almost-tears. "Look, we haven't known each other long, but I just know that you are a good person and I know you will try to befriend everyone you meet, but this Dragon King is not someone who will be your friend. He will try to kill you every time."

"He didn't try to kill me—"

"He did, didn't he?" Her gaze was stern, not unlike Midoriya's mother's scolding frown.

Midoriya brought a gloved hand to his soaking hair and then looked away from her. "Well, he did push me into water with the mermaids…" he glanced over at the glittering pool, to see the mermaids were gone.

"See?" she huffed.

"No," Midoriya said, turning his determined gaze on her, observing how her clothes were perfectly dry. "He saved me in the end, didn't he?"

"How do you know I didn't save you?" she asked.

Midoriya took off his soaked gloves, rubbing his hands together to dry them. "Your magic is wind magic and your magic doesn't work that far into the water. Even if you would have used your wind magic to scoop down into the water and pull me out, this place would be a lot more messed up, but the only place that is wet is clearly where I was dragged out of the water." He paused to look at her. "The Dragon King is a good person, I know it. He's just protecting the dragons like we are trying to protect our family."

"I saved you," she hissed. "I'm the one who put air in your lungs. Otherwise you would be dead!" She stood, looking away from him. "Besides, I don't believe for a minute that he will help us and I don't believe he cares about what we are going through. So that's why I will be the one to stop you when you try to do something crazy."

He opened to disagree but she held out her hand to him. "Come on. Let's go back to camp and sleep before we head out tomorrow."

* * *

Midoriya didn't get a wink of sleep the rest of the night and stared at the canopy of leaves above him, thinking nothing but of blood red eyes and the range of emotion he had seen in them. Anger, fear, curiosity…

In the course of the early hours of the morning, Midoriya came to the conclusion that the Dragon King was hiding something about the nature of the dragons or how to get the scales they needed. There was also the matter of the golden light he had seen in the mermaid's pool. What had that been? Was it something the Dragon King had done to save him? Or was that something else?

Around him, his companions were starting to stir. He sat to watch them gather their small number of belongings. Without the horse, they had lost most of their supplies, including Midoriya's book about dragons.

Iida was putting his armor back on carefully, as he told them, "We are going to need to stock up on the essentials including healing supplies. We're going to also have to commission another horse." He glanced at Todoroki.

Todoroki shrugged. "Whatever we need, I'll pay for it." Midoriya glanced at him fondly. Todoroki was a prince from a neighboring kingdom, trying to save his mother. He was nothing like the prince Midoriya had imagined him to be when he heard about the king's son. He was glad to have met him.

Uraraka shuffled uneasily. "I don't know if you have the funds for it, but I think we should stay in an Inn tonight, just to let our bodies rest from sleeping on the ground for so many days in a row…" Uraraka's situation was the same as his and Todoroki's, but instead of one sick parent, she had two ill with the Blight.

"It's not a problem," Todoroki said, patting the pocket of his elaborate jacket. "I kept the money on myself for this very reason. Horses startle much to easily in the face of danger." He turned to Iida. "Just direct me to what we should purchase when we get back to town and I'll get it for us."

"Got it!" Iida said, his armor clinked as he put the last part safely in place. "I'll make sure we get the best prices as to not drain our funds." Iida, on the other hand, was in the knight's army with his brother. His whole family grew up to be or serve the knights. However, when his brother became ill with the Blight, he abandoned the army in favor of looking for a cure.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Iida asked, looking around the clearing for any belongings left behind.

Midoriya looked down at his feet, his mind racing as he became faced with a decision. If he went back to the town with them, he could ask around about the Dragon King, find out more about him. But if he stayed, hopefully he could learn about the Dragon King directly from the source… and maybe more about that golden light he had seen.

His body tensed as he looked up at his friends. "I'm going to stay behind."

His friends froze at his words, turning to look at him slowly. "Why, exactly?" Iida asked, fixing his glasses.

Midoriya gulped. Based on Uraraka's already angry expression, he could tell she and possibly the others were not going to take this well. "I feel like there is more for me to do here," he said, not mentioning the golden light he had seen while drowning.

"He wants to try to talk to the Dragon King again," Uraraka said, crossing her arms angrily. "I don't know why you are insisting to put your life in danger."

Todoroki frowned. "Didn't Uraraka say that he almost drowned you?" He seemed genuinely confused why Midoriya would want to see the man again.

"He didn't mean to, I think," Midoriya started, twisting his hands together.

Uraraka threw her hands up with a groan. "Didn't try to kill you? Are you kidding me?! He would have murdered you an instant if I weren't there to stop him. He's a killer that's been living with dragons his entire life. Do you know what dragons of done to several villages across this region? Do you know often they kill?! He may be human, but if he can live with those ugly, blood thirsty beasts, he is basically a monster himself!" she cried. The edged of her eyes were glistening with tears.

Iida stepped between them, holding up his hands to either of them. "Midoriya, clearly has his mind made up," he started. And Midoriya did. He knew he wanted to find out more about what was going on this forest. Besides, he didn't believe the Dragon King was a monster, nor a human for that matter. "So, let's let him be, Uraraka. It's his decision to make." He turned on Midoriya. "We can let you do this, Midoriya, but you will be defenseless without us. You don't have a weapon. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Midoriya hesitated. He was right, he didn't have a weapon, and he didn't have much experience hunting or camping until he had started this journey. He had met these three early on in his journey, so he hadn't had to learn much. But now, going off on his own…

Uraraka looked away brokenly at his hesitance. "God, even you know that you are helpless out here," she said sadly. "You don't have a sword like Iida or magic like me or elements like Todoroki. What are you going to do?" She looked back at him intently, gripping at her staff like a lifeline.

"I could always leave you with the sword," Iida said, picking up his weapon to offer it to Midoriya.

"Or one of us could stay with you," Todoroki offered, looking around at the others.

Midoriya looked around at his friends, who were willing to give him so much to keep him safe, and came to his resolve. "No, I am not going to slow anyone down or take anyone's things. Besides, I will be fine. You guys will be back in just a few days, right?" he said cheerfully.

"Midoriya," Uraraka started.

"No, I'll be fine!" Midoriya promised. "I'm not going to look for the dragons or try to hunt down the Dragon King, okay? I… I think he will come to me. He's curious, I think, and he wants to know about me as much as I want to know about him… Or at least he will want to check if I'm alive."

Uraraka looked uncomfortable. "You better be alive when we come back," she said in a hushed tone.

His smile waned. "I promise, I will stay in this area and be here when you get back."

The others exchanged a look but finally came to a decision. "Fine," Iida said. "Do what you must. Though I wish we had some supplies we could leave you with."

"Well, I have fresh water nearby and I am confident I can forage for food. My mother was a gardener, you know." He grinned despite the unease in his chest.

Uraraka looked like she wanted to say something but instead launched herself forward to give him a warm hug; Midoriya squeaked in surprise.

Over Uraraka's shoulder, Iida looked just as emotional and eventually he joined into the hug, wrapping them in his broad arms. He waved Todoroki over last, who looked unsure, but added his arms loosely to the hug as well. Midoriya felt warmed to know he had so many people who care about him to this extent.

"Thanks guys," he said, closing his eyes to rest his head on Uraraka's shoulder.

* * *

It was hours after his friends had left and since then, Midoriya had spent his first few hours alone by gathering wood in a stack for camp fires over the next few days. He had also come across a berry bush and determined that they were not poisonous and had gathered a handful and they now laid wrapped in leaves, safely beneath the wood, away from animals, he hoped.

Sun was at about midday when he decided to venture further into the woods, feeling confident because of the clear sunlight and the gentle sound of rushing water and twittering birds. He stepped carefully through the woods, heading back towards the mermaid's pool, hoping to find the Dragon King again or perhaps more about the golden light.

It took a little while to remember where the pool was, but eventually he came upon it again. It was calm with small waves of water from the incoming stream, and the twisting tree over the pond looked safe and unintimidating in the daylight. He did not see the Dragon King, nor were there mermaids in the water.

Delicately, he made his way to the tree and pulled himself up and tiptoed across the crisp bark to the middle. He peered down into the crystalline waters. He could only see so far down into the water, knowing how deep it was, but he could see the flutter of fish and a glimpse of a mermaid tail here and there.

He sat there for several minutes, observing and glancing around him to check for any movement. But when there wasn't, he decided that he should perhaps walk up stream more and investigate where that would lead him.

As he was just jumping off the edge of the overturned tree, he heard movement to his left. He stopped, turning excitedly in anticipation of seeing the Dragon King once again, but instead came face to face with something he did not know existed.

It was a dark shadow, looming in midday with dark jagged eyes. It did not have a body but a mass of black, that seemed to swirl around him like flies to a corpse.

It smiled at him.

* * *

 **Trade one cliff hanger for another cliff hanger?**


	6. Chapter 6

Midoriya's body would not move for him, he could only look at the oozing being. He didn't seem to have a physical body but it seemed to wrap around the center like mud. What was it? Midoriya had heard of evil beings that lived in the woods, but he had not expected this in broad daylight.

The being's smile grew, and its voice was a hiss, "Oh yes, you'll do."

Midoriya's breath caught and had no time to think before it was a hurtling dark mass, descending upon him. He choked out a single resonating scream before it wrapped around him, trampling his voice as it tightened around his neck and pushing itself forcefully into his throat, cutting off all supply. The more he tried to breathe in, the more it consumed his throat, tearing at his insides.

His mind screamed. Oh god, he wasn't going to last. He was going to die! There was nothing he could do. He was…

Eyes rolling back into his head, he felt his body going limp.

But as his vision began to go fuzzy, suddenly… a golden light.

* * *

Bakugou rose with the sun, his body finally warm and dry from the night before. He hadn't slept, he couldn't, not with that pipsqueak's drowning cries drilling into his head every time his mind was on the cusp of sleep. His parents were already emptied from their nest, but that didn't comfort him. He knew that his mother had noticed him come back in last night. Despite taking time to cool off before coming back last night, he had no doubt his mother had smelt the distress on him upon his return.

The village was busy when he left the mouth of the cave. The ones who were staying behind were preparing the rations and organizing the supplies. There weren't many who could go hunting and foraging anymore due to the pure amount of injuries to their village's people, so that is why this patrol was so important. They had to send their strongest out to gather prey from the nearby plains, and each time it was a risk. Humans did not take too kindly to having dragons in their territory, this was something they knew first hand.

His foot steps crunched across the clearing to where his parents were standing in the middle, speaking to each other quietly. They immediately ceased their conversation when they sensed him in their presence, and Mitsuki turned to him, her features drawn up in a concerned frown. Bakugou's steps only faltered for a split second under her gaze but he shouldered his worry aside in order to soldier up to her.

Her eyes softened as he came to a stop in front of her. "You okay, Katsuki?" she asked softly.

Bakugou almost cringed at the softness of her concern. He really didn't do a good job of masking his distress last night, clearly.

"I'm fine, ya old hag," he shot back, but his eyes drifted away from her face in favor of catching the gaze of Kirishima, who was with some of the others, holding a basket. The look on Kirishima's face almost mirrored Mitsuki's: concern. "Just fell into the mermaid pool last night," he mumbled.

A hand smacked him over the head, and he huffed in surprise, turning back to her. She glared. "I told you to stop sneaking out at night," she urged.

Masaru smiled crookedly at him. "You should listen to us sometimes. We worry, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Bakugou looked away, he didn't feel right about the whole thing. He wondered if they would be as worried if they knew he probably drowned a completely useless person last night. "When are you guys leaving?" he asked, finally turning to look at his mother in her red eyes.

"Want to get rid of us so soon?" she asked.

"It'll be quiet," he scoffed, ducking in time to avoid her ruffling his hair.

She snorted. "We'll be heading out in a few moments. Aizawa will be in charge, okay brat? Wake him up if something happens."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, backing away from her to escape to talk to Kirishima. "I know the drill."

* * *

His parents were off with about 11 of their other more capable dragons. Left behind was Aizawa, who was always asleep, and a few other dragons that could still fight or defend the village. There was still him, Kirishima, and their friends but otherwise there were several dragons with crippled wings and other extras.

Kirishima approached him as his parents were disappearing into the clouds, Bakugou tracking their movement. "Hey, what's going with you?"

Bakugou's eyes only twitched with his discomfort but Kirishima was persistent. Kirishima sighed, tilting his head. "Come on, just tell me. We are supposed to tell each other everything!"

Bakugou looked away from the clouds and glanced at his friend and then over at the others, still sorting basket of finds from the forest. Ashido, the pink girl, looked up from her sorting and waved slyly at the two of them. And just the gesture was enough to make Bakugou's stomach roll more.

"Get me a basket," he turned to Kirishima, "and let's go collect from the pixies."

"Bro, the pixies hate you," Kirishima laughed. "Last time they said they were going to ban you from their village."

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Like they actually would. Let's go."

* * *

Kirishima and Bakugou were making their way through the forest to the far side of their mountain, further away from where they usually traveled. Mostly this was due to the dragons' preference to the sunshine and the pixies' preference to dark, shady areas.

Their walk had been long and quiet as Kirishima waited for Bakugou to speak, but Bakugou could tell he was growing impatient based on his sporadic tapping of fingers against the weaved basket he was carrying and his tuneless humming. Bakugou tensed and ground his teeth but still Kirishima did not ask him what they both knew he wanted to. "So, what did you trade to the pixies recently?" Kirishima asked instead.

Bakugou shrugged. "You know, the usual," he said blandly.

Kirishima looked at him in disgust. "They asked for your blood again?"

"They're greedy little bastards."

"You need to listen to your parents and stay away from them," Kirishima scolded him, coming a stop in front of Bakugou.

"We need their pixie dust in the same way they need our blood."

"Well they don't need _your_ blood!" Kirishima practically hollered. "This is why I have to babysit you; you're so self-destructive." Kirishima threw his empty basket down on the forest floor and turned his serious glare on Bakugou.

Bakugou threw his own basket down, his fingers itching with his anger. "Okay, I know I'm valuable but I can do what I want with my own blood, my own scales!" he seethed, getting up in his friend's face.

"You're not valuable because of your body, Bakugou!" Kirishima yelled, grabbing him by his necklace and pulling him only a few inches away. "You're my best friend!"

Bakugou froze, looking at Kirishima, finally realizing what his friend was angry about. Nonetheless, he yanked himself out of Kirishima's grasp, but he did not look away from Kirishima's gaze, swallowing slowly. "I know," he said quietly.

Kirishima's glare did not leave his face. Instead, he crossed his arms and jutted out his chin in indignation. "What do you know?"

Bakugou groaned. "Fine, okay? Yourmybestfriend," he mumbled as quick as he could.

"And as your best friend, you need to confide in me, okay? Tell me what's going on?"

Suddenly a loud scream rang out into the forest, and it was cut off just as quickly. And that scream, it was nothing other but human. _Midoriya?_ Bakugou's mind supplied instantly. "Shit. Come on Kirishima!"

He bolted into the trees, the two of them leaving their baskets behind.

* * *

Whatever the gold light was, it caused the monster to drop Midoriya. He landed hard against the dirt, coughing from the lack of air and feeling déjà vu.

A chortling yell caused him to look up with watery eyes, and through his blurred vision he saw a man—a big hulking man—who had grabbed the beast with his bare hands, as if it was easy, as if his sludgy body wasn't so liquid. He pummeled its body into the ground and held it there with a grin and he withdrew a large sword from the sheath attached to his back and aimed it as if to stab it into the sludge monster's head.

But the monster softened and snaked through the grass back at Midoriya. The man swung his sword, ready to strike the monster, but the beast wrapped his sludge around Midoriya's leg and threw him forward in the way of the sword. The sword only barely nicked Midoriya as the man scrambled to dodge the teen.

When Midoriya had finally landed and looked up, the sludge beast was gone. The man was still smiling when he looked back at him. "You okay, kid?"

Midoriya was speechless. Who was this man? Was this person who had caused the golden light?

"Well, All Might is my name," he said. Midoriya felt a flash of embarrassment that heated up his face as he realized he said all of his questions aloud. All Might held a hand to Midoriya and Midoriya took it and was hoisted to his feet effortlessly. "And you're right I did make that light. I guess you saw a bit of my power."

"What was it?" he asked.

"I'm a protector of this forest," All Might told him in his booming voice. "I protect the things living here, but especially I protect… Well, that's not important."

"Do you think I could ever be as powerful, as you?" Midoriya cried out. "I have people I want to protect." He looked down, ringing his gloves together which were now more brown than white. He thought of his friends, his mother, The Dragon King… "Do you think I could—Wha!" he cried out.

The man in front of him shrunk into a smaller, frailer version of himself and almost looked to be weighed down by the sword on his back. "Look, kid," he told him, "You shouldn't be in these woods alone. A human like yourself will not survive, you can't protect yourself." The man before him looked like he wanted to say more but his head turned sharply in the direction on the mountain, eyes widening slightly. He turned to Midoriya, "You never saw me, okay?" And he took off, without waiting for a reply.

Midoriya was stunned on his feet, but a second later two people burst into the clearing, and suddenly Midoriya was more in shock. Too many things were happening in broad daylight. Like the Dragon King and another person standing right before, staring around the clearing wildly.

"What happened, you idiot?"

"Uhh…" Midoriya struggled, too caught up in his surprise to say much more.

"You were the one who screamed, right?" The Dragon King said, getting up in his personal space, grasping Midoriya's jacket threateningly.

"W-Well," Midoriya stuttered. "There was this sludge monster who attacked me and there was this golden light and—"

"Golden light?" Bakugou growled, tearing his hand away as if it were burned.

The red head shouldered the Dragon King behind him protectively and The Dragon King growled something indistinguishable to the red head. They seemed to be bickering in a language only they knew.

"Are you out here by yourself?" the redhead asked, turning back to him.

"Are you going to kill me?" Midoriya asked, panicked by the two boys that were now crowding his space.

A series of emotions shuttered on the Dragon King's face but the redhead's lips grew into a friendly smile. "No, we're not going to kill you. You would too easy of prey anyway," he laughed, flashing his razor teeth.

"I mean yesterday…"

"Don't speak a word about yesterday, you useless freak," the Dragon King grumbled.

"Why, what happened yesterday?" the red head asked, looking between the two. He looked at the Dragon King with a strange look. "Were you out with this kid last night, Bakugou?"

"No!" The Dragon King hollered. "Bakugou?" Midoriya asked at the same time.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the red head said turning back to Midoriya. "I'm Eijiro Kirishima and this is Katsuki Bakugou."

"Don't make friends with the enemy," Bakugou said, whacking Kirishima over the head. "He's literally looking for dragon scales, if you fucking remember?"

Kirishima seemed to wilt at his words. "Oh crap, that was him a couple days ago."

"I'm Izuku Midoriya," Midoriya told them, scrambling to make amends. "Nice to meet you." He held out a hand to them to shake, but they both stared at him as if he had grown two heads. Slowly, he dropped his hand.

Kirishima was subtly putting himself between Midoriya and Bakugou, Midoriya realized as Kirishima shifted on his feet. Well, he supposed, someone who could control dragons was pretty rare and would be someone to protect. He glanced at Bakugou's wary face and then to Kirishima's threatening frown. They both seemed to fear him slightly, even though they could easily pummel him into the ground.

"So… you lived," Bakugou said slowly. Midoriya glanced back at the blonde boy, taking in his stance. He was still standing slightly behind Kirishima but he held an air of hostility, but his eyes almost seemed… soft. Worried?

"Yeah," Midoriya said. "If you wouldn't have pulled me out of the water, I would have died."

Bakugou held a sour look on his face. "Where's the other idiots?"

Midoriya kicked the dirt. "Uh, they went back for supplies. I told them I wanted to stay here."

"Why?" Bakugou asked. "If you are after the scales still, you can get lost, or I can throw you in the mermaid pool again. This time I won't save you."

"No!" Midoriya cried, almost panicking from the thought of suffocating once again. He's had enough of that, thank you. "I just want to know more about you."

"Eh, Midoriya," Kirishima said, taking a step between him and Bakugou yet another time, this time blocking Bakugou from his view. "Maybe you should go catch up with your friends." The inflection of his voice was hard and threatening.

"What the fuck. Are you bleeding, useless?"

Midoriya looking down, sucking in a breath of surprise of a small patch of red blooming across his green shirt. "Oh, I guess I am."

"Absolutely useless," Bakugou growled. "From now on, I am calling you Deku."

"What?" Midoriya asked. "What does that mean?"

"It means useless in… uh, never mind," Kirishima said, rubbing the back of his head.

"In Dragon?" Midoriya asked.

They both stared at him with a strange look on their faces.

Midoriya fidgeted. "Because Bakugou, you're the Dragon King?"

Bakugou's face immediately morphed into outrage and Kirishima burst out laughing, putting his arms on Bakugou's shoulder for support as he absolutely struggled with his laughter. Midoriya stood, watching, confused, as Bakugou shoved Kirishima off and then grabbed Midoriya's sleeve, yanking him forward. "Don't fucking say a word. Come on, Deku, we're patching you up and then you are fucking leaving this forest. Got it?" Midoriya was dragged away into the forest before he could protest. He really wasn't hurt that much!


	7. Chapter 7

Midoriya was dragged all the while by his wrist. The whole walk Bakugou did not loosen his grip and did not pay any mind to each stumbling step Midoriya took to keep up with him. But, as Midoriya struggled to walk, he quietly watched the dynamic of the two people in front of them. Bakugou, the Dragon King, was a much softer person, as Midoriya suspected. Bakugou regarded Kirishima with an admiration that he had not seen in his eyes before.

In return, Kirishima seemed very protective of Bakugou and just as fond. Maybe Kirishima is a servant of some kind to the Dragon King? Or maybe… they were something more? Midoriya's face flamed at the thought.

During the walk Kirishima occasionally glanced back at Midoriya, as if to keep an eye on him, as if he wasn't totally caged by Bakugou's death grip. Bakugou, in comparison, never looked back; absolutely stubborn.

They soon stopped in the shade of some tall trees. The clearing at the center was sunny and bright, glittering sunlight off of the blades of weeds and grass and the white flowers that dotted the small field on the base of the mountain.

Bakugou swung Midoriya around towards the nearest tree; Midoriya stumbled with a gasp, almost falling as Bakugou finally released his wrist.

Midoriya rubbed at his wrist as he turned to look at Bakugou, who had finally decided to look at Midoriya. Well, not look into his eyes, but at the small wound on his belly that had bled through his vest.

"Sit down, Deku," Bakugou commanded, moving forward, hands lifting just slightly as if to touch Midoriya, but stopping close to Bakugou's sides. Instead his crossed his arms and turned his glare at Midoriya. "I need to check that wound."

"I'm fine! It's just a little scratch!" Midoriya cried, throwing out his hands. They really did not need to go to the trouble for him. It only stung a little anyway.

Bakugou's glare did not falter. "Sit."

Midoriya sighed and backed up to the tree and shuffled down into a sitting position in the tall grass. Slowly he unbuttoned his vest, glancing at the small tear in the vest as he cast it aside. The white shirt below was even more bloodied and still wet with blood. Midoriya sucked in a breath, unbuttoning this shirt as well, and then hissed as he quickly peeled the shirt out of his wound.

Bakugou's feet rustled the grass as he squatted down beside Midoriya to lean over the injury. His eyes roamed over the cut and then glanced up at Midoriya's eyes. Midoriya felt frozen under his gaze.

"It's not too deep," Bakugou said, glancing over to Kirishima.

They exchanged a look and Kirishima's frown seemed to win their silent argument. Bakugou grit his teeth and pulled away from Midoriya, standing and turning away. "You'll just need a bit of medicine and the wound needs to be cleaned."

Kirishima nodded, coming closer. "I'll stay here with Midoriya. We'll wash out the wound and his clothes at the stream while we wait for you to bring the medicine."

Bakugou glared at the two of them, eyes flashing threateningly, but clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Fine. I'll be right back, so don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

With a grin, Kirishima gave Bakugou a thumb's up. "Midoriya and I will be fine." He crouched down next to said person and slung an arm over Midoriya's shoulders, causing him to jump in surprise. "See we are practically best friends already!"

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Like I said, nothing stupid, got it?" He turned on his heel and stalked off.

Kirishima turned to Midoriya, pulling his arm from his shoulders. "Come on, we really should wash out that wound. It looks like it hasn't stopped bleeding."

"It doesn't really hurt," Midoriya said slowly.

"So you keep saying," he replied, looking unimpressed. "Look, there is nothing wrong with getting a little help. Besides, we really should clean out that wound before it gets infected."

Midoriya nodded, "Okay, I mean it's fine, but okay." He pulled the white shirt off all of the way and held his vest and shirt in a lump and followed Kirishima out of the clearing.

They walked a short while in silence, but as the sound of the babbling brook neared, Midoriya became more interested in the person before him. Kirishima was not dressed unlike Bakugou. Where Bakugou wore a cape, Kirishima wore a scarf around his neck. He had tattoos similar to the one's down Bakugou's arms, but they were less complex and took up less surface area. Otherwise he too was shirtless and wore simple pants. He wore no shoes on his feet, like Bakugou.

"Is it just you and Bakugou out here?" Midoriya asked, unable to help himself.

Kirishima contemplated his question for a moment. "Us and the dragons," he said simply, looking away and not easing up on his pace.

They continue a little while more before they came to the stream. It was not as wide here as it was by the mermaid pool, but it was deep enough to wade through at least at waist level. Stopping at the water's edge, Midoriya dropped his wadded-up clothes and then crouched to shove off his boots and the socks underneath. When his task was complete, he stepped into the cool water and then sat down at the water's edge.

He swished his hot hands through the soothing water before scooping some up to wash the blood on his stomach. He repeated the action until the wound was completely clear of matted blood. The bleeding had definitely slowed, so Midoriya did not bother to press much further into the cut. He just occasionally wiped away the excess blood. In the meantime, he took his soiled clothing and swished them into the water, watching in fascination as the blood dissolved into the water in a diluted red.

"Why do humans wear these?" a question came from over his shoulder.

Midoriya turned to fine Kirishima holding one of his boots and turning it in all directions to inspect it. Midoriya frowned at Kirishima's words. Was Kirishima implying that he was not human?

"They're shoes," Midoriya said slowly. He picked up his other shoe and held it up for Kirishima to see. "You see the bottom?" He knocked on the sole. "It has a protective hard layer that protects feet from stepping on anything too jagged or hurtful. You and Bakugou don't wear these?"

"Didn't even know what they were," Kirishima said, dropping his boot. "No one in our village wears anything like it."

He stood and walked away, not realizing how much he had revealed to Midoriya. Midoriya stared after Kirishima as he loitered at the water's edge. So, based on what was said so far, Bakugou and Kirishima had a village of possibly other people and/or dragons.

Midoriya glanced away and continued to wring out his shirts, the blood mostly successfully removed. The clothes only held a faint coloring of the blood and the rip from the sword he had been cut by.

"Okay," Midoriya said as he stood, water dripping down his front and from his feet. "Should we go back to meet Bakugou?"

"Hold on, I need to interrogate you," Kirishima said, watching as Midoriya crouched to put his boots back on.

Midoriya popped the first boot on but did not move to fasten it or secure the second boot. "What do you want to know?" he asked slowly.

"Bakugou's my best friend," Kirishima said, crouching down in front of Midoriya. "He saved my life once and I am doing everything I can to keep him safe in return. I can never repay that debt… What exactly are you here for? Are you here to kill dragons?"

"No!" Midoriya cried. "I would never!"

"What do you need the scale for?"

"My mother," Midoriya whispered. His heart stuttered at the thought of his poor mother, lying with the dark welts across her body, too weak to move or to even speak. "She's going to die without it. She has the Blight."

Kirishima's face scrunched up at the mention of the disease. "It's uncurable."

"But with a dragon's scale—"

"There is only one type of dragon that has the scales for that kind of thing and they're rare. And even if we were to give you a scale… Taking that scale alone would hurt the dragon terribly. You wouldn't imagine the pain a dragon goes through when a scale is ripped from his body." Kirishima shuddered physically at the thought. "We will never give you a scale. Even if Bakugou goes soft on you, I will never allow it."

Midoriya felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs once again. Then, was it really hopeless? Was his mother really going to die?

"Now, tell me, are you still going to hang around Bakugou after knowing this?"

Midoriya did not want to deceive Kirishima. To be honest, he felt heartbroken at the news and the disappointment was heavy on him, but he knew there was no way he could give up on his mother. He didn't want to hurt the dragons… but if he didn't try, he might lose his mother forever, and then he would be all alone. He couldn't do it.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear," Midoriya said, looking down at his hands, running them together nervously. "I still do want to save my mother and I will do anything I can to do that for her. But if you say that is impossible, then it probably is. But I won't rest until I try everything else. Maybe there is something in this forest that could heal the Blight without using a dragon's scale. Who knows? Besides… there are some things I still want to learn about in the forest, ya know?"

Kirishima stared at him but said nothing. Instead he sighed and turned away. "Come on, let's go meet with Bakugou."

They headed back to clearing and Bakugou was still not there. The stood around in awkward silence.

Midoriya hung his wet shirts over a low branch but otherwise leaned against the tree, glancing over Kirishima nervously.

Kirishima glanced over just as often, looking like he wanted to say something… but the silence continued. Eventually Kirishima did speak his mind. "Look, Midoriya. You seem like a nice guy. I know you won't hurt the dragon or Bakugou, but I have to warn you… if you do anything to hurt anyone I love, I will end you."

"I get it, I do. I promise I won't do anything to hurt him or anyone. I promise!"

"Good!" Kirishima said, finally grinning, showing his sharp teeth again. "Then, to prove yourself, you will pick some white flowers for Bakugou!"

Midoriya paused, confused. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"No, just do it," Kirishima told him. "I promise Bakugou will _love_ it."

"Okay…" Midoriya said slowly. He walked lightly out into the field, pressing a hand to his chin as he observed the little white flowers, looking for the most vibrant ones. Briefly he turned back to Kirishima, unsure of himself, but Kirishima gave him thumbs up, encouraging him to do as he said.

Midoriya went to work, picking a few flowers and arranging them in a little bouquet. It was tiny bundle but it looked cute enough as it was. The flowers were small petite things, a bit like daisies, but smaller in size and with wider petals. They were flowers that did not exist in where Midoriya was from. He wondered what they were called.

"Are these enough?" Midoriya asked, turning to Kirishima and displaying his small collection.

"Yes, a small amount is actually perfect!" Kirishima said enthusiastically. "Now put them aside for now. Wait till he's here and then pull them out at the perfect time."

Midoriya huffed in frustration. "I don't even know what these are for."

"Trust me!" Kirishima said.

Midoriya stowed them away at the base of the tree holding his drying clothes. He sat down next to them, relaxing and waiting. Kirishima wandered off to the other side of the clearing as they waited.

Not much longer, they both perked up as they heard someone coming through the undergrowth, moving into the clearing. It was Bakugou, as expected, and in his hands was a bundle wrapped in leaves. Bakugou spotted Midoriya beneath the tree and beelined towards him and crouched down at his side and peering at the wound once again. "Hmm," Bakugou hummed. "This should be healed up in no time." He peeled back the leaves of his bundle and revealed a poultice of some kind. He dipped his fingers into the creamy liquid and smeared the salve across Midoriya's wound. Midoriya sucked in a breath at the coolness of the medicine.

Bakugou's sharp eyes caught his but he said nothing and turned back to his work, making sure the wound was well coated.

Kirishima approached quietly, watching Bakugou's slow work. "So he'll live?"

"Yeah he'll live," Bakugou grunted, wrapping up the salve again when his work was complete and wiping his hands off on his pants.

"Hey, Midoriya wants to show his appreciation," Kirishima said, practically buzzing on his heals as he rocked on them in anticipation.

"Huh?" Bakugou turned to Midoriya, frowning.

Midoriya grabbed the white bundle of flowers and thrust them out towards Bakugou in both hands.

Bakugou froze with wide eyes, looking utterly horrified. "Deku. What the _fuck_ are those?"

Midoriya's body seized up under the murderous glare that grew on Bakugou's face. "Uh, but! But Kirishima said you would like these!"

Kirishima broke into laughter, guffawing uncontrollably.

"Did he now?" Bakugou ground through his teeth, absolutely terrifying in his anger.

"Oh are these bad?!" Midoriya fretted, dropping the flowers in fright.

"They're fucking flowers for courting. So unless you intend to marry me, I would stay the _fuck away_ from white flowers, okay Deku?"

"Got it!" Midoriya squeaked, kicking the flowers away. His entire face heated with uncontrollable embarrassment.

Kirishima continue to chortle. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Bakugou said, standing and turning away from Midoriya. He looked back Midoriya for a moment and gestured for him to follow. "Grab your shit. We are going to find you somewhere to sleep."

"Okay Bakugou!" Midoriya said, voice still squeaking. He grabbed his shirt and the small bundle of salve Bakugou had left behind and rushed to follow after Bakugou.

All the while, Midoriya was being mocked by Kirishima's continual laughter.

* * *

 **Kirishima is so mean to Midoriya. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Bakugou walked ahead of the other two, while he contemplated where to store Midoriya for the night. There was clearly something loose, trying to prey on Midoriya. He blankly listened to Midoriya and Kirishima chatter away as he followed the path upwards on the mountainside.

Obviously, he would not bring Midoriya back to the village, but he had to put him somewhere closer to them. Midoriya's wound was pretty small, but there were many creatures in the forest that would be able to smell the residual blood and follow his scent.

Glancing briefly over his shoulder, Bakugou grimaced as he watched the pipsqueak struggle to keep up with Kirishima's quick, practiced feet as they made their way up this familiar path. Yeah, it was clear; Midoriya would not stand a chance in the forest alone tonight. He had almost been killed by mermaids and now some kind of monster. He was a walking disaster.

"There's a cave up ahead," Bakugou said, turning away from the pair to concentrate on his steps forward. "Kirishima, we should probably stay with him tonight."

"Wha—You don't have to do that! No, I'm perfectly fine by myself!" Midoriya spluttered behind Bakugou.

Bakugou turned a glare at him. "A stupid shit like you wouldn't last one more day in this forest."

Kirishima nudged Bakugou's shoulder. "Come on, give the guy some credit. He did survive last night." He turned an apologetic smile at Midoriya. "Though, it probably wouldn't hurt to have someone to watch your back while you're sleeping. Besides, Bakugou probably feels bad about the whole mermaid thing—Ow!" Kirishima winced as Bakugou elbowed him in the ribs.

"I don't feel bad about crap. I just don't want to trip over his dead body in the morning."

Midoriya seemed to think this over for a moment, his green eyes flickering over to Bakugou. Bakugou suddenly felt uncomfortable under the other boy's gaze, but he refused to look away, to back down. After what felt like an eternity, Midoriya nodded. "Yeah, I guess it couldn't hurt," Midoriya said slowly.

"Fucking great," Bakugou said roughly. He didn't wait, turning on his heel to lead the way once again. "Let's go. It's close to sun down," he noted, looking at how the sun kissed the outline of the mountain.

They reached the mouth of the cave a moment later and Bakugou glared at the dark entrance, his eyes struggling to adjust to the pitch darkness of it. He really hated the dark. Glancing at Kirishima, he could see that he was squinting too, trying to see into the cave. Midoriya just looked confused by their sudden stop outside of it.

"Gather some damn firewood, Deku," Bakugou barked as he picked up a piece of dried bark, to wave at Midoriya.

"I can do that!" Midoriya squeaked, shooting away to find fallen branches further away.

Bakugou turned to Kirishima. "Can you go back and grab a pelt or two for this idiot to sleep on?"

"What about you?" Kirishima asked.

"I'm going to keep watch in the tree. Get yourself a damn blanket if you want."

Kirishima rolled his eyes but nodded. "I'll be right back."

After the two had disappeared from sight, Bakugou looked down at the piece of bark in front of him. If he has to wait for Deku to light the fire, they might be in the dark for an eternity. No way, not on his watch.

Bakugou pressed his thumb and middle finger, and quickly snapped, causing a minor spark against the wood. It caught easily and a small flame lapped hungrily at the wood. Bakugou watched it quietly, contented to watch the flickering light slowly climb the wood.

Soon after, Midoriya reappeared with his arms full of wood, balancing them on top of the salve and shirt he still clutched. "Wow!" Midoriya claimed, walking past him to drop the wood just inside of the cave. "How did you light that fire so quickly?"

"I'm not impaired at basic skills, that's how," Bakugou grumped as he squatted by the wood and arranging it with his free hand into a proper campfire. Once that was completed, he propped his bark up against it, to allow it to grow into the rest of the wood.

Midoriya nodded quietly, watching the fire, growing quiet. His eyebrows were furrowed seriously. It didn't look right on his face. "I never really learned any of this. I only had my mom and she is a launderer, she washed and repaired clothes. I helped her a lot, so I know how to sew and other things, but things like this…"

"Well, I don't know shit about clothes," Bakugou said. Midoriya cocked his head, clearly not understanding, and searched Bakugou's eyes probingly. Bakugou once again felt bare under his gaze. It was like Midoriya could see further into him than the surface; it left his skin crawling… or tingling…. Who gives a fuck. "I mean, you have things you know and I have things I know. Got it?"

His words registered in Midoriya's eyes and suddenly the guy's smile bloomed brightly. "Thanks, Kacchan! I didn't think about it that way!"

Bakugou frowned. "What did you just call me?"

"Huh?" Midoriya asked, as he sat down by the fire to settle in. "OH! Kacchan? That's what I decided to call you!"

"What does that mean?"

"Uh, well…" The kid was malfunctioning. He looked down at his hands and his face was turning red. "It's part of your name, plus 'chan.' You use it when you… respect someone?" It came out like a question.

Bakugou blinked; his chest suddenly felt tight under Midoriya's eyes. "Whatever, but don't say that shit in front of Kirishima. I don't want everyone calling me that." He stood, turning away from Midoriya. "I'm going out to start my watch. Kirishima should be here with the blankets and shit."

"Thank you," Midoriya called after him.

* * *

Midoriya felt like an idiot. He couldn't believe he had just called the Dragon King _Kacchan._ It had just come out of his mouth. It just was… in that moment Bakugou had been so comforting in his words to try to reassure Midoriya. It reminded him of when his mother used to gather him close and call him Izu-chan when he was young. Bakugou had made him feel… nostalgic?

Midoriya glanced across the flames towards where Bakugou had disappeared. From here Midoriya could see that the sky had darkened and it was just at twilight. Glancing back around the cave, Midoriya couldn't help but feel creeped out. The cave was not deep but there was still a part he could not see beyond the fire light. He would have much rather have slept outside.

"Midoriya," Kirishima's voice echoed and caused him to jump. Kirishima smiled crookedly at him. "Didn't mean to scare you, but I brought you some blankets for sleeping." He tossed a blanket to Midoriya, who caught the thick pelt of soft fur. It surely would be warm and safe in the night.

He shuffled something out from the pelt in his other hand. It was a small sculpted bowl and inside were berries. Kirishima pushed it noisily across the stone and dirt of the cave floor towards Midoriya, who took it eagerly and stuffed a few into his mouth. He hadn't realized how hungry he had been.

"Thank you," he replied softly through a full mouth while running his fingers across the fur's length. He glanced behind Kirishima as he settled down on his own pelt. "Is Bakugou coming in to sleep too?"

"Nah," Kirishima said, laying back into the fur. "I double checked with him on the way in, and he said he would keep watch from the tree right outside the cave. But what that actually means is that he is going to lay in the tree until he falls asleep."

Midoriya chewed thoughtfully, popping a few more berries into his mouth. Did Bakugou leave the cave because he was uncomfortable around him? "I'm going out there for a bit," Midoriya said, standing and brushing himself off.

"Suit yourself," Kirishima called as Midoriya maneuvered around him and headed towards the front of the cave.

He once again hit evening air, which was still warm around him. There were fireflies in the underbrush, blinking in and out of existence underneath the shadowy trees. The scenery looked gray in the dim fading light and the crickets had started up their chatter.

Midoriya's breath caught when his eyes traveled up the nearest, large tree and he caught the figure of Bakugou against the rising moonlight. Bakugou's hair looked almost white. It was a stunning scene.

Blinking a few times, Midoriya collected himself and made his way towards the tree, losing sight of Bakugou in the process. At its base, he surveyed the branches. It shouldn't be too difficult to climb the tree, as long as he maneuvered in the right places. He didn't hesitate any longer and grabbed the lowest hanging branch and hoisted his way up, kicking at the bark.

"Deku, is that you?" Bakugou called from above him.

Midoriya looked up at him, spotting the darkened mass through the tree branches, several feet above him. "Yes, it's me."

Bakugou didn't say anymore, so Midoriya took that as an invitation and continued to make slow progress up the tree branches, testing each step before putting his full weight on it. After several moments, he reached the branch below Bakugou and settled down beside him, copying Bakugou's pose.

Bakugou was sitting with his feet outstretched along the branch, with his back leaning against the trunk. His hands were settled on his lap and he looked at ease in this tree.

Suddenly his eyes caught Midoriya's, but they squinted at him, as if he couldn't quite see him. "What are you doing up here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," Midoriya said.

Bakugou scoffed, leaning back again to glance at the last sliver of setting sun. "Just don't sleep up here. Knowing you, you'll fall out of the tree in your sleep and break your neck."

"I won't," Midoriya assured him. "But what about you?"

"I'm not sleeping, I'm keeping watch."

"Even though you can't see?"

Bakugou's head whipped to look at him. "How did you know that?"

Midoriya shrugged. "I'm observant."

Bakugou didn't reply and they slipped into an easy silence. Midoriya took this opportunity to look at Bakugou while he was looking elsewhere. In the night Bakugou's face was soft and calm, but his shoulders were raised just slightly revealing Bakugou's discomfort. Suddenly he was looking at Midoriya.

"Would you quit staring at me?"

"What are you scared of?" Midoriya asked. He leaned towards the other boy, determined to figure him out.

"I'm not scared," he growled at him, eyes turning sharp with his anger. But yet, he drew his feet in towards him, turning slightly away from Midoriya.

Midoriya hummed, choosing not to call him out. Instead he asked, "Do you think tomorrow, we could look for some herbs or something that I could try on my mother?"

Bakugou was still, watching him with his lips quirked down. "I don't think anything we find in this forest will help her. I already told you."

Midoriya sighed, lapsing into silence once again.

For a moment, Midoriya watched Bakugou and Bakugou looked back in his direction, though Midoriya suspected he still could not see him. "So really, why won't you go into the cave?"

Honestly, Midoriya was not expecting an answer and for a while, all there was was the same silence. But then, Bakugou said, in the softest tone Midoriya had heard from the boy. "I spent a lot of time in the dark once as a child."

Midoriya waited for him to continue, but Bakugou did not elaborate. "What… What do you mean?" he asked as gently as he could.

Bakugou flinched. "I don't want your pity," Bakugou spat out.

"What? I'm not—"

"Get the fuck out of my tree already!" Bakugou's voice was thick and when Midoriya finally got a glimpse of Bakugou's eyes, they looked wild, threatening, scared.

"Okay, Kacchan," he said, turning to allow his feet to touch down on the next branch below. He looked back at him. "But I don't pity you, I respect you, remember?"

Bakugou did not move, but his expression did soften, the intensity of it dimming.

Midoriya paused on his descent. "You should really come to the cave. We still have your fire, so its not dark, ya know?"

Bakugou shifted, looking away. "I'm fine here."

Midoriya nodded, finally accepting that he could not change the other boy's mind. "Okay, good night Kacchan."

That night Midoriya fell asleep, dreaming of Bakugou and the emotions he had seen in his eyes. He expected that he would not see this vulnerability in the Dragon King tomorrow and it was likely that he be more aggressive than ever, in order to mask what Midoriya had seen on him tonight.

But, what Midoriya had not expected to wake up to was the soul-shaking horror of Bakugou's scream.


	9. Chapter 9

Midoriya sat straight up, heart pounding as a scream split through the night. His gaze snapped to Kirishima, who was struggling to his feet, his features glowing under the dying fire. Kirishima's sharp intake of breath was palpable. "Bakugou!"

Kirishima tore away from their camp and Midoriya threw himself to his feet, hot on his heels. The moon was high, glaring over the landscape as they skidded out of the cave. There was a slight wind now, ruffling the leaves, and now it was the only sound. They could no longer hear Bakugou, nor was he in his perch.

"Bakugou!" Kirishima yelled.

"Bakugou!" Midoriya copied, cupping his hands around his mouth.

Silence followed and they glanced at each other, fear passing through their locked gaze. Suddenly an explosion reverberated through the forest and Kirishima was tearing off in its direction immediately. Midoriya shot off after him.

They plunged down into the trees. Midoriya held his arms out before his face as he ran through the whipping branches that were being forced aside by Kirishima's descent.

Another boom, shook the floor beneath Midoriya, almost knocking him unbalanced, but he pushed forward. His heart was in his throat when he collided with Kirishima, who had suddenly stilled in a clearing. Midoriya pushed past him, to get a better view.

Midoriya also froze at the sight. Before them, was the sludge beast, wrapped around none other than Bakugou. Midoriya instinctively touched his own neck at the haunting memory of the slow suffocation.

Kirishima wasted no time, launching himself at the beast that was distorting Bakugou beneath him, drowning everything but the boy's eyes in utter blackness. Kirishima balled up his fist with a roar and shoved his punch mercilessly into the beast. Midoriya cried out in horror. Kirishima's hardened fist had collided not with the beast, but Bakugou underneath. The Sludge Monster cackled; it had anticipated the punch and had exposed Bakugou's stomach to the hit. Bakugou's were blinking rapidly, glittering with moisture, and it was the only indication that the boy had felt it.

Kirishima startled back while the monster refilled in the area with sludge and countered with a punch of its own. The punch shook with an explosion, throwing Midoriya to his hands and knees. The explosion hit Kirishima square in the jaw, hurling him against a tree with a crack, and he fell boneless to the ground with a heavy thump. His body stilled.

"No!" Midoriya cried, flinging himself to his feet again. He turned to the beast, who was still cackling. Bakugou's eyes were wide, blood-shot, fearful.

Midoriya's fingers tingled.

"Get away from him!"

The Sludge Monster turned on him, grinning over Bakugou's face. "Oh? And what are you going to do about it, pipsqueak?"

Midoriya scooped up a rock and threw it at it. The rock passed right through the edge of the monster's body. Midoriya grit his teeth in frustration; his whole body buzzed in infuriating anticipation.

"Don't even try, this kid will be dead in a minute," the monster growled and threw himself at Midoriya, pummeling Midoriya to the forest floor, causing him to skid across the ground, landing near Kirishima.

He coughed, clawing to his hands and knees, struggling for air. "Give…him…back," he choked out between coughs. He hoisted himself upwards as the beast continued to laugh at him.

His body felt foreign then; he felt disembodied. A charge was wrapping itself up through his core and through his limbs, making him feel like—

A bright golden light burst from his body, the energy zipping through his muscles as he charged at the beast. He screamed in rage and, with a golden fist, he finally made contact with the monster. It was no longer a fluid as he knocked the beast from his clutches on Bakugou, throwing it across the forest with a tumble.

Bakugou collapsed, coughing and gasping down on all fours. Midoriya rushed to him, but did not stop to check on him yet, putting himself between the monster and Bakugou.

The golden light, which had been with him a moment ago, died away, leaving a throbbing pain resonating in his knuckles. With the loss of the light, suddenly Midoriya felt drained, and he stumbled with the weight of abrupt fatigue.

"You'll pay for that," the beast roared. Its body rushed in a wave, ready to sweep over Midoriya, but a hand encircled his ankle and yanked him out of the way.

The back of Midoriya's head hit the dirt with a smack. Midoriya instantly saw stars, his mind throbbing, and he grunted as he scraped at the dirt with his fingernails, crawling towards Bakugou who was crouching nearby.

Bakugou's eyes scanned over Midoriya's body before throwing himself onto his back. Roaring, Bakugou thrusted a hand into the air, just as the monster dove at him. An explosion erupted from Bakugou's hand, shooting the monster away before it could overtake him again.

Quickly Midoriya scrambled up to stand. He grabbed Bakugou's outstretched hand, hoisted him upwards towards him, trying to get him to his feet. "We need to get out of here!"

"No, I'm going to kill this fucker," Bakugou hollered into the night, attempted to pull his hand out of Midoriya's grasp.

"We need to help Kirishima!"

Those words halted Bakugou for a moment, his head whipping to Kirishima's unmoving body several feet away from where they stood. "Shit," Bakugou growled, his face twisting up, agonized.

Midoriya glanced back at Bakugou and yelped, seeing the monster diving over Bakugou once again. The weight of the beast sent Bakugou tumbling, ripping him out of Midoriya's grasp. Midoriya watched in horror as the fall impacted Bakugou's head, splitting a cut at his hairline.

"Bakugou!" Midoriya fell to his knees, tearing at the beast, trying to get it off of his friend. Tears spilled over, streaming down his dirty face as his fingers slipped through the sludge.

Just then, several roars enveloped the forest, shaking the trees around him. Midoriya glanced up and his sucked in an uneven breath, wondering what else could possibly go wrong now… But what he saw was the silhouette of what only could be several dragons, sailing through the skies, heading right in their direction.

Of course! Midoriya gasped in realization. These were Bakugou's dragons, they would defend him!

The Sludge Monster seemed to realize this as well. Its body moved quickly, withdrawing abruptly. Midoriya didn't pay it any mind, rushing to Bakugou, rolling him onto his back. Blood was streaming from Bakugou's wound. Midoriya's tears wouldn't stop as he swept Bakugou's blonde locks away from the wound, smearing the blood onto his cheek. Bakugou was blinking slowly and blearily, tilting his head towards Midoriya.

Another roar, much closer, shook the ground again. Midoriya glanced up in terror as the dragons, three of them, circled the clearing and then dove to touch down in the tight fit of the clearing. Crouching protectively over Bakugou, Midoriya watched nervously as the dragons beat their wings heavily in their landing. Midoriya's hair whipped wildly around him and his already tear-streamed eyes watered from the sudden blast of air.

Midoriya didn't have time to take in the three's appearances, because the closest one, the pink one, immediately turned on him and with one swish of her tail and wings, she was shrinking down and morphing in a grotesque display of snapping bones and glittering magic. In its place stood a girl, her skin tinged pink, and she marched right up to Midoriya and yanked Midoriya back by his collar, causing Midoriya to yelp at the sudden pressure of his clothes against his throat.

She was wearing a small dress, hanging from one shoulder and made of meager material, and she stood strongly, barefoot, just like Bakugou and Kirishima. She leaned over Midoriya, glaring through the night's shadows. "What did you do to him?" she cried.

"I knew we should have checked on them," another boy cried, hurrying over to Kirishima to crouch beside him. His black straight hair falling over his face.

The last boy crouched down besides Bakugou. His hair was blonde as well, but what looked more of a gold than Bakugou's pale yellow in the darkness. "Geez, he looks bad." His brows furrowed as he went to touch Bakugou. Bakugou groaned in protest, smacking his hand away.

Midoriya was frozen against the pink girl's grasp. He had witnesses something he had never read before in any of his Dragon books, something he didn't even think was possible. These three people… they had morphed from the form of a dragon!

The blonde one squinted up at Midoriya. "How did you do all of this?

The pink girl shook Midoriya by the collar. "What powers do you possess, you little monster? Are you hear to steal Bakugou? To tear him apart?! Huh?!"

Midoriya squeaked in horror. "N-no! I don't have any powers, I wouldn't hurt him!"

"Maybe I should just eat you," she growled, bringing her face close to his, flashing her sharp teeth and fangs, "since you won't talk."

"Just shut up, all of you!" Bakugou hollered, struggling to sit up, one hand clutching at the side of his head near his wound. The blood was dripping down over his eye. "Fucking Deku didn't do anything, it was some kind of monster."

The pink girl loosened her grip on Midoriya but did not let go. The blonde dragon's hand hesitated near Bakugou's back, who was now hunching over and running both hands over his face. The black-haired boy scooped up Kirishima gingerly, the boy hanging loosely in his arms. "Kirishima is out cold," the boy said quietly, "But he's breathing and seems to be okay…" He glanced over at Bakugou. "We should probably get the two of you back to the village, maybe get the two of you some pixie dust?"

Bakugou groaned in frustration. "I'm not taking the damn pixie dust. Save that Kirishima."

The other blonde hovered over him. "But you're hurt bad, Bakugou. When your mom gets back, she's going to freak! She probably won't let you out of the nest for weeks."

"Shut the fuck up!" Bakugou cried. He pushed the blonde dragon aside and forced himself to his feet. "I'm fucking fine, stop treating me like I'm helpless!"

Midoriya stared at the back of Bakugou's head, caught up on one single detail that was stuck in his mind. "Bakugou, are-are you a dragon?"

Bakugou turned sharply, his eyes on Midoriya, glaring and confrontational. "Fuck you, Deku. What are you going to do about it?"

Midoriya was frozen, mouth gaping as he looked at the Dragon King. Suddenly it made a little more sense how this person, who had thought was human, was able to control dragons… It was because he was one. "That means all of you… are…?"

Bakugou visibly bristled, his eyes darting away from him.

Pink dragon retightened her hold on Midoriya. "Where should we ditch this little punk?"

Bakugou glanced her and then shook his head. "No, we'll ditch him in the morning. It's too dark out now."

She let go of Midoriya finally, not that Midoriya really cared. Instead his heart was sinking at the thought of returning to his village empty handed, but also the thought of never seeing Kacchan again. He couldn't quite make out the expression on Bakugou's face as he looked at him, due to the shadows from this angle, but he hoped, maybe, that Bakugou possibly felt as reluctant as he. But he doubted it.

"I'll take Kirishima back to camp now," the black-haired boy said.

Bakugou nodded, turning once again away from Midoriya. "While Sero does that, Ashido, go back to the camp at the cave back that way," he gestured over his shoulder, "and grab our stuff from the cave. Kaminari can lead me and Deku back to the village."

The others nodded their agreement and they split off, taking their separate routes. Ashido disappeared into the night, Sero transformed and wrapped Kirishima in a sticky substance and took off with him in his claw, and Kaminari waved the other two in his direction. "Come on you two."

They began their climb up the mountain again. "Deku, if you tell anyone about our village, I will murder you in your sleep, understand?" Bakugou told him as they crunched their way through some flowers.

"I won't tell anyone, Kacchan," Midoriya said softly.

"Kacchan?" Kaminari questioned.

"Shut it, idiot."

Midoriya chanced a peak at Bakugou who was walking beside him. There was still blood down his face, but it was hard to tell in this light if it was still freshly bleeding. Midoriya fidgeted for a moment and then asked, "Are you okay?"

"Piss off, I'm fine."

"Are you sure, because that looks pretty bad?"

Bakugou groaned, his hands balling into fists. "Why does everyone treat me like an invalid? I'm not fucking helpless! I don't need to be protected."

Midoriya frowned. "Isn't it because you're the Dragon King?"

"I'm not a Dragon King!" Bakugou shouted, coming to a complete stop. His chest was heaving, like he was about to explode. "I'm not anything but a waste of goddamn helpless space, okay? I just happen to have something everyone wants and I can't do anything but get in trouble for it and get everyone killed!" Midoriya's breath caught, shaken to his core.

Kaminari deflated, seemingly used to this. "Bakugou, you know it's not like that."

"Fuck off to the both of you," Bakugou ground out and turned to stomp away.

Kaminari sighed heavily. "Come on,"

Midoriya followed wordlessly, mulling over everything he had learned. Things were more complex that he'd expected.


	10. Chapter 10

Midoriya was amazed. He never expected to see so many dragons in person in one place, but he also did not expect them all to look like humans. Well, they were all just currently in their human form, but still, this was incredible!

Their village was a carved out clearing, shielded by a few taller trees to keep it hidden, but otherwise it was open to the skies. It was no doubt to provide easy access to the flying dragons.

In the center was a large bonfire and on the side of the steep mountainside of the clearing were several holes, nooks and crannies that must serve as their nests, places to sleep. This was all on the left backside of the clearing. On the opposite side was makeshift shanties that looked like was used for some storage, organizing and working on things for the village. In one of the huts, Midoriya could see Sero setting Kirishima down into a nest while others crouched over his still body.

When Bakugou led the way into clearing, there were already people standing in near the fire, waiting. Others were peaking out of their nests, watching Bakugou, Midoriya and Kaminari as they came into view.

Midoriya stopped in his tracks, watching from a distance as a tall figure immediately approached Bakugou. This man probably wore the most clothes of the village, shrouded in black material and loose white bandages around his neck. His jet-black hair spilled over his face as he looked down Bakugou with his sunken eyes. He didn't say anything, just closed his eyes slowly and sighed.

Bakugou's face twitched into pure annoyance. "Yeah, yeah, fuck off. Save the lecture for later," Bakugou snarled, pushing past the man and heading in the direction of Kirishima.

The tall man's eyes followed Bakugou's movement silently before his gaze flicked over to Midoriya. Midoriya jolted, his whole body going rigid. The man then glanced at Kaminari. "Who's this?" he asked, his voice lazy.

Kaminari tilted his head at Midoriya. "Bakugou said his name is Midoriya. He's a human by the smell of it. Bakugou said he's harmless and he seemed to trust him." Kaminari's lips quirked just the slightest upwards. "Which is a miracle, because he trusts like literally no one-OW!" Kaminari rubbed at his head from where the taller man had whacked him lightly.

"Um," Midoriya hummed. "Yes, I'm Midoriya. Bakugou, he—" Midoriya faltered. He wasn't quite sure how to describe the relationship he and Bakugou had built. He wouldn't call it a friendship; Bakugou clearly didn't like him all that much and he had almost killed Midoriya in the past… But Bakugou was someone to be admired and he felt that maybe he tolerated Midoriya just enough… maybe? "Umm, he…"

"Don't worry about it kid," the man said. "I'm Aizawa. I'm running things in the village as of now." Aizawa paused, tilting his head to look over the boy in front of him. Midoriya shifted uncomfortably as the man's gaze raked over him. "It looks like your hand needs some attention."

"Huh?" Midoriya looked down at his hand and sure enough there was a purplish bruise forming over his pale knuckles. He flexed his hand, wincing at the twinge of pain that shot through the ligaments.

"Deku!" Midoriya turned to find Bakugou glaring at him from where he was standing beside Kirishima. "Get your ass over here so we can treat you."

Glancing back briefly at Aizawa, who was looking between the boys with a just a twinkle of interest, Midoriya decided he was better off near Bakugou instead of under Aizawa's judging eyes. Midoriya hurried away, averting his eyes from Kaminari as he went.

Bakugou had turned away, looking down at Kirishima on the table. Sero was across from him, along with a few other nameless people. The others were taking what appears to be sparkling dust and sprinkling it down below Kirishima's nose. Slowly the boy was breathing it in. Nothing was happening visibly but it appeared to putting Kirishima into a more restful sleep. His eyebrows were no longer furrowed.

"Give me your hand," Bakugou growled, holding out his own. In his other palm, he was holding the same kind of salve Midoriya had used earlier.

Midoriya gave him his hand, trusting Bakugou completely with his wounded knuckles. Bakugou's hand was warm against his. "The medicine works for this kind of injury as well?" Midoriya asked, eyes filling with wonder as he felt the almost instantaneous relief from the cool ointment being smeared against his smooth hand. Bakugou's calluses caused a small shiver to race up his arm and into his neck.

Bakugou pursed his lips. "Pixie dust-infused with herbal plants. It can treat any of the most basic and minimal wounds." His eyes caught Midoriya's intensely. "It will not heal your mother's wound," he said shortly.

Midoriya tensed. It was almost like he could read his mind some of these days. Midoriya glanced down at their entwined hands; Bakugou was still rubbing the salve in with a soft stroke of his thumb.

Sero cleared his throat. "Bakugou, don't forget to put some of that salve on yourself. Your head wound is still bleeding."

Bakugou snorted, snatching his hand out of Midoriya's and put the salve down by Kirishima's side on the nest. "Just worry about Kirishima."

Midoriya caught Bakugou by the wrist before he could slip away. Bakugou looked down at him incredulously. "You can't let that wound go untreated!" Midoriya scolded him. "It could get infected or scar. And I can help you if you need it!"

Something flickered in Bakugou's gaze, but when he glanced at Sero and the others, his face hardened. He yanked his hand from Midoriya's but snatched up the salve again. He flicked his head in the direction of the entrance. "Let's go, Deku."

"Okay, Kacchan," Midoriya said eagerly. He wondered where this boy was taking him. He sent a small wave goodbye to Sero and the others.

He followed Kacchan wordlessly out into the clearing again, watching as the others parted a bit to let him through. There were a few whispers as they passed the small crowd and Aizawa was once again watching the two of them closely.

Ashido was the only one who seemed to dare to step in front of Bakugou's path. "Hey! I put your blankets and things in your cave," she said, turning to keep in step with Bakugou as he marched towards a cave to the far left. His shoulders stiffened, Midoriya noticed as he walked behind the two. "I couldn't help but notice, Bakugou, but your blanket in particular smells like Deku," she said, her voice taking on a playful tone that Midoriya could not quite understand. He wished he could see what kind of face Bakugou was making. She chuckled to herself. "Are you going to sleep with it like that?" she asked. She glanced back Midoriya, her smile growing. "Or are you going to let him sleep with it again?"

"Fuck off, Pinky, it was the blanket Kirishima gave him."

"Okay, okay," she said, putting her hands up in front of her in surrender. Her face morphed into something more serious and somber. "I'm going to check on Kirishima. I'll let you know if he wakes up, okay?"

Bakugou relaxed at her words and he stopped to look at her. "Thanks," he murmured so quietly that Midoriya almost missed it. Briefly, his eyes landed on Midoriya and he once again composed his face into his usual glare and snatched up Midoriya's wrist, pulling him harshly forward. "Now leave us alone, I need to find Midoriya a place to sleep."

Ashido grinned at them as they passed. "One of the spare caves are open!" she called after them.

"No, that place is shit in compared to my cave," he growled, tugging at Midoriya to walk even faster. Midoriya stumbled just a bit but he didn't miss the smirk and fond look Ashido had tossed at the back of Bakugou's head.

A moment later they were making their way into the dark cave. It had a narrow mouth but it hollowed out further when they came walked deeper inside. It was cold. Maybe Bakugou could make a fire?

He turned his gaze on the dark silhouette of the boy ahead of him, growing curious once again. "Can you breathe fire?" Midoriya blurted out.

Bakugou halted, looking down at the shorter boy. "Of course I can. Do you think I'm that defective?"

"Oh no! I didn't think that at all! It's just dark in here and I was wondering if you were going to light a fire."

He seemed to consider these words, hand flexing over Midoriya's wrist. "I usually find myself around the cave by scent. But I'll make a fire for your dumb ass." He dropped Midoriya's wrist and Midoriya brought it to his chest, running his fingers over the spot Bakugou had gripped. Midoriya breathed in deeply, only smelling the slight staleness of the damp cave. He wondered what exactly Bakugou smelled to get around.

Bakugou's shadow crouched down. And then a second later, the dragon breathed in deeply and then blew a gentle flame onto a piece of wood he held in his hand. The fire flickered and sparked around Bakugou like fireworks, illuminating the boy's face in soft light and reflecting in his expressive eyes. Midoriya found himself enthralled by the sight.

Bakugou dropped the piece of wood into a small campfire Midoriya hadn't noticed and it grew to light up the cave. Midoriya glanced around. It was quite simple in the cave—a large nest towards the front of the cave on the right. On the left, a smaller nest was settled towards against the back stone.

Bakugou stood and took his red cape off, revealing his broad shoulders. He turned just slightly to Midoriya as he dropped the material to the floor. "Come hear idiot."

Midoriya followed Bakugou cautiously to what he realized was the dragon's own nest. It was an intricate pile of soft fabrics and twigs that impressively held together. He wondered if it was comfortable.

Bakugou sat down to one side of it and watched as Midoriya slowly approached the nest. He felt awkward. Now that he knew Bakugou was a dragon, he was suddenly hyper aware of how he acted around the other. Bakugou was not human and surely some things could be lost in translation.

He took one light step into the nest and it creaked softly under the weight of his foot. Relaxing when he saw Bakugou's face make no change, he stepped into the nest completely and sat down opposite of Bakugou. Bakugou scooted closer and he set the salve bottle into Midoriya's hand and quickly looked away but held still.

Ah. Suddenly Midoriya understood. Bakugou hadn't wanted anyone to fuss over him, but the fact that he was still asking Midoriya to do so told him that Bakugou trusted him in some small way. It was… endearing.

Midoriya smiled privately to himself as he looked down to scoop a small amount of salve onto his pointer finger. He brought it up to Bakugou's head, first taking the time to once again sweep blonde locks away from his forehead. He surveyed the wound. It had clotted, not bleeding anymore but still glistening wet. A trail of partially dried blood had drawn a crooked line down Bakugou's cheek, not to mention the smear Midoriya had made himself earlier on.

Carefully, he pressed the cool medicine to the other boy's head, who winced just the slightest at the contact. Midoriya swept his finger allong the rigid line, taking care as he treated the wound. Bakugou's eyes fluttered, looking away just as Midoriya withdrew his hand.

"Do you want me to treat that too?" he asked Bakugou, gesturing at the bruise forming on Bakugou's stomach from where Kirishima's punch had connected.

"Nah, that'll be fine," Bakugou murmured. He took the salve jar out of Midoriya's hand, corking it and putting it to the side.

Midoriya watched as Bakugou reached for the blanket Ashido has discarded near the edge of the nest and he moved it to set down by Midoriya. There was only one blanket in the nest.

"Am I sleeping here?" Midoriya asked the dragon.

He was only answered with the mildest of glares.

Midoriya took that at a yes and worked at taking off his shoes, putting them down by his vest and gloves Ashido had placed there for him. He peeled off his socks and shoved them into the shoes.

Midoriya didn't make a move after that and neither did Bakugou. Instead Midoriya asked a question he was burning to know the answer to, "What does your dragon form look like?"

Bakugou avoided his gaze. "It's ugly. That's why I don't show it."

Midoriya frowned at his words. Bakugou didn't transform in his presence so far, so he couldn't know for sure, and he really couldn't trust Bakugou's words more than he could throw him. He wondered what Bakugou's secrets were.

"Was Kirishima that dragon I first saw you on?"

Bakugou seemed to appreciate the change in subject. "Yeah, that's him," his face lighting up significantly. "That idiot."

"Is he your mate?" Midoriya asked, unable to stop himself. Sometimes he could really punch himself in the face.

"Hah?! You're as stupid as you look!" Bakugou roared. He crossed his arms and flopped backwards into his nest and looking off at the fire. "He's like a brother to me. I saved him once and he saved me once. He's… important to me."

"What did he save you from?"

Bakugou didn't answer and his face was still hidden from Midoriya.

"What did you save him from?" he tried again.

This time the other boy looked at him, but his eyes were dancing with pain along with the dancing fire. God, Midoriya could really hit himself. Why was he always prying at this kind of things? He just… he just wanted to know more about Kacchan. He knew without a doubt that Midoriya would pour out his whole life story if Kacchan would ask.

When the dragon didn't answer him, Midoriya sighed and laid down as well. He was close to Bakugou but not enough to touch unless he rolled over.

Silence stretched over them. The sound of the crackling flames and their breathing kept them company. But as Midoriya stared at the ceiling, all at once Midoriya realized that Bakugou's breathing had evened out. Midoriya leaned up onto one elbow to look at his sleeping face. His chest was pounding as he looked at the other boy; his features were soft and relaxed in his sleep. He looked younger and more at peace.

Midoriya leaned back again, settling in and dragging the blanket over himself and, on a whim, scooted just the slightest bit closer to Bakugou to drape the blanket around him as well. Then he too fell into sleep soon after, comforted by the firelight and the breathing beside him.

He slept the soundest he had in a long time. He felt… warm… safe…protected. But… that might be just because he awoke in the middle of the night to darkness, a warm body pressed against him and an arm wrapped lightly across his chest. He fell back to sleep soon after with a strange fuzzy feeling in his chest.


	11. Chapter 11

Bakugou was used to be screamed awake. After all, he was the son of a dramatic bitch… but this was like no fucking other.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" was his mother's scream in the early hours of the morning, jolting Bakugou, and the body against him, into a hyperaware state.

Suddenly Bakugou was too aware of his body—his arm strung over the human, his body facing Midoriya's, his head resting at Deku's shoulder… and when he moved back just slightly the way he and Midoriya stared at each other in shock.

"Shit," he growled at the same moment Midoriya said weakly, "Kacchan?"

Bakugou snatched his arm away and scooted back, heart thumping wildly. How the fuck had this happened? Sure, he had had the pipsqueak sleep in his nest and sure, Deku's scent was overwhelming in the nest… but he, he… he hadn't thought his mother would be home so soon.

Bakugou was grabbed by the back of the neck and yanked backwards into the protective embraced of his mother. "Katsuki, what the fuck is this?!" Mitsuki hollered.

Midoriya had sat up in the nest and looked incredibly scared and particularly goofy under the harsh gaze of Mitsuki. She shoved Bakugou behind her and into Masaru's waiting hands, who held him more loosely but just as possessively.

He could no longer see Deku beyond his mother's seething figure, so he craned his body sideways out of his father's grip to try to see the other boy. Deku was probably shitting himself.

"Who the fuck are you, huh?" she demanded.

"Hey leave the idiot alone, will ya?" Bakugou groaned. "He's done nothing wrong."

She turned on him, eyes flashing angrily. "Then who gave you that, huh?" she spat, pointing at the wound at Bakugou's forehead. "And what about this?" she asked, poking at the ugly bruise on his stomach.

Bakugou's breath left him at the touch, pain zipping through his core. He pushed her hand away, blinking back the tears that had gathered in his eyes. Gasping to regain his breath, he glared at her and said, "I wouldn't let anyone who's done this anywhere near our village."

Before she could reply, Midoriya had grabbed the salve up again and beelined past her, even ignoring Bakugou's father to look at Bakugou's wound with wide eyes. "Kacchan, I knew you should have treated this! It was this bad?"

Bakugou went still in his father's grip. He stared at Deku as he uncorked the bottle and hesitated when he caught Bakugou staring at him. Slowly, he smiled, smearing the salve across Bakugou's abdomen, sending the slightest of chills down his spine.

They looked at each other longer still.

"Did you come here to mate my son?" Mitsuki asked suddenly.

Midoriya looked like he was going to pass out any second.

"Mom!" Bakugou yelled, pushing his father's arms off of him, yanking the bottle from Deku to angrily rub more salve over his bruise. "He's a fucking human!"

Mitsuki looked between them, her expression stormy. "Then what is he here for and in our village?"

"He was lost!" "I was lost!" the two said quickly at the same time.

Bakugou looked over at the other, surprised they had come up with the same lie.

"Kacchan, saved me from the mermaid pool," Midoriya started.

"And Deku saved me from this shitty monster in the forest," Bakugou finished. His body flared with anger, shame, because he knew what his mother would say next.

"This is why I don't like you to go out of the nest!" she raged, her angry slanted eyes were filling with tears. "Why can't you just stay out of danger, Katsuki?"

Masaru stepped past the two boys to his mate and wrapped her against her. She resisted at first, but as he continued to hold her, she soon collapsed against him. "It's okay," he said to her calmly.

She peeked at Katsuki over Masaru's shoulder. "I don't want to lose you again," she whined.

Katsuki stiffened, his fingers itched with the age-old rage building within him once again. He wasn't going to have this conversation again for the thousandth time.

He turned on his heal, tossing the salve into his nest without recorking it, and grabbed Deku by the wrist. "C'mon Deku," he said simply and pulled the boy behind him, without another glance at his parents.

He pulled along, feeling the boy stumble occasionally behind him, as he marched them past the curious gazes of the other dragons and right out of the village. They clomped through the underbrush and Midoriya was silent for a good portion of the walk down the well-worn path.

"Where are we going?" Deku asked.

"We're going to get you cleaned up," Bakugou said, looking back at Midoriya's dirty face and soiled hair. "You look like a disgrace."

"Mermaid pool?"

"Does it look like we are heading in that direction? That's on the opposite side of the mountain," he replied grumpily.

Midoriya gave him a small smile, that completely disarmed Bakugou for some reason, it made his chest feel suffocated. "I don't know much about this forest, Kacchan."

"I can believe that," he huffed, turning away.

He felt awkward as he walked. He realized that he had left his cape back in the cave, and he noticed that Midoriya had left his vest, gloves, socks and shoes back there as well. Midoriya's dirtied undershirt was unbuttoned and he looked disheveled. He looked just plain shitty, but Bakugou kept looking at him… probably because he looked stupid and disgusting.

When Midoriya winced for the 100th time from stepping on something, Bakugou tilted his head, frowning. "Are all humans sensitive to the fucking floor? Is that why you wear those shoe things?"

Midoriya hummed and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. But before shoes were invented, humans walked around barefoot like you. I guess shoes make it more comfortable to walk and they protect our skin."

"Human skin is stupid," he said, eyeing Deku's stupid face.

Midoriya laughed. "It's the same skin as yours, Kacchan."

Bakugou had the urge to smile too, but instead he looked straight ahead, leading Midoriya farther. It would just be a bit more.

Soon they came upon the sound of softly rushing water. He turned to watch Deku's face as he led him into the rocky edge of a hot spring—this was his favorite place in the whole forest.

"Fucking wash yourself," he told Midoriya as he inched to the water's edge and sat down to dip his feet in. The bubbling hot water rushed around his toes and cleared his skin of all the dirt. Behind him, he heard Midoriya undress.

He averted his gaze as Midoriya lowered himself in nearby. "Thanks for bringing me here, Kacchan."

Bakugou still did not look at him. "It's fine," he said slowly. "Besides, I wanted to be a proper fucking guest before you go."

Midoriya sighed, the sound pulling Bakugou's gaze to him. The other boy was up to his chin in warm bubbling water; his head was tilted upwards at the morning sun, wistful. "I… don't really want to leave."

Frowning, Bakugou said, "Why would you want to stick around this dump any longer than you have to?"

When Deku looked at him, it was weird… it was… Bakugou just felt unaware and innocent under his gaze, like he was missing something important. "What?"

"Nothing," Midoriya said with a small, sad smile, before sinking deep into the water, submerging his dirty hair. He started to scrub at his head.

Bakugou huffed, stripping off his own pants and jumping in besides Deku with a rough splash. Personally, he didn't need a bath, but he sunk in deep, letting the heat calm his tensed muscles. He unlocked his jaw, turning on his eyes to watch Deku.

Deku watched him back, water dripping from his hair over his eyes and his warmed cheeks. With the dirt cleared away, the true green of Midoriya's hair appeared once again. Bakugou felt pissed off by the sight of it.

"Ah, Kacchan, you probably washed off the medicine," he told him. His eyes flashed with worry that Bakugou did not feel he deserved.

"It's just a bruise," Bakugou snapped, sinking into the water with his sinking heart. He didn't like people worrying about him, it felt unnecessary, it felt too dangerously close to those nights, when he was younger: his vision full of fire, his village burning, his hand in Kirishima's, the screaming…

"I'm sorry, Kacchan," Midoriya said in a rush, looking panicked. "Did I say something wrong?" He reached for him. Bakugou's eyes snapped up at him, flinching away involuntarily.

Bakugou hated himself again. He ground his teeth together and looked down into the water. Why couldn't he do a single thing right? He wanted to bite out insults at the other boy or just say anything at all, but his tongue felt stuck in his mouth, dry and unmoving.

Deku shifted the slightest closer, not reaching out again. His words were soft, "You don't have to tell me what happened. You don't have to ever tell me…" Bakugou glared at him, not able to look at him in any other way right now. "I just," he continued, "I just want you to feel comfortable around me. You can tell me how you feel. You're my friend, Kacchan."

The soft, empathetic look on Deku's face had Bakugou's nose itching, like he had to sneeze. Without warning, he stood up in all his glory, causing Deku to choke on his spit or some shit, scrambling to look away. Bakugou finally grinned.

"Friends that easily? Are you stupid, Deku?" he snorted, actually feeling… not horrible at the thought. "You trust way too easily." He pulled himself out of the water and shoving his dripping hips back into his pants.

"I mean it," Deku replied defensively. "I really like you, Bakugou." He also removed himself from the water, starting to get dressed.

"Well, I think you're the worst," Bakugou shot back, but there was no heat behind his words. The only heat was the sudden flaming in his cheeks, trying to comprehend why Deku would even like him. It didn't make a lick of sense. He turned back to the other boy, just in time to witness Deku shift on his feet with a wince. "Are your feet actually fucked up?" He squinted at the boy's feet.

He grimaced, shifting his feet slightly to reveal a few small cuts on the sole. "I guess I'm just not used to going barefoot."

"Sit down," Bakugou told him, "I'll find you something."

Deku was watching him closely with his bright green eyes but nodded. Bakugou made sure he was sitting before moving away.

Just a few feet away from Deku, he stopped again to peer around the forest. He considered his options. He didn't want to go back to the village to face his parents once again; he didn't want to go the fairies, he's been scolded too many times to give away his blood again like that. His blood… he glanced back at Deku, who was watching him expectantly.

Bakugou could let the other suffer his way back to camp, but Bakugou wanted to help him, from his own accord, without Deku knowing. He felt almost a sick sense of satisfaction at the thought.

He turned away, thinking. He couldn't just smear his blood on the other, that would be too obvious. Instead he would need something to mix it with, to dilute the blood.

He breathed in the scents of the forest, searching nearby. Around him he breathed in the crispness of the foliage, the unique foreignness of Deku, the fragrant flowers… he didn't smell anything he could use. Stepping further into the forest, he kept his mouth slightly open, continuing to breathe in to taste the air.

Several paces away, he didn't smell it, but noticed the buzz of a bee as it zipped by. He traced it with his eyes, following it. He attempted to follow it to its nest. Honey would be a great additive.

Luckily it wasn't too far until he found the nest. He looked at the bees fondly, remembering the time Kirishima had tried to take the honey himself. He'd gotten stung to hell. Kirishima should have just let him do it.

Bakugou whistled at the bees, letting him know he was there. They responded immediately, parting a path and leaving the nest. "Don't worry, ya little fuckers," he said, "I'm just taking a little bit."

He snapped a leaf off a nearby plant and he leaned in toward the nest which was now clear of bees. Breaking off just the tiniest piece of the nest, he smeared the honey comb to spread the honey onto the leaf.

Whistling again, he signaled to the bees he was done. They came buzzing back in, ignoring Bakugou as he walked away.

He stopped not far from there, setting the honey down on a larger rock and looking around. His eyes scanned the pebbles along the forest floor, searching for something sharp. Grabbing the sharpest stone he could find, he went back to his honey and placed his left palm outstretched and gouged the rock into his palm without hesitation.

Only a fraction of a wince met his face as he tore a wound into his hand, blood bubbling up to the edges of the cut. Carefully, he turned his hand so the blood dripped into the honey. Before he stood, he smeared his hand into the undergrowth and then mixed the honey and blood together. The amber of the honey turned a rusty color.

Heading back to Midoriya, he presented the mixture to the boy. "Put this on your feet."

Deku studied it before scooping a bit up and examining it closer. "What's in this?"

"Mostly honey and some other stuff," Bakugou mumbled, curling his hand at his side to hide it. The wound pulsed and stung, his palm still wet.

Deku seemed to take him at his word and smeared it into the cuts on his feet. Bakugou watched numbly as the shallow cuts healed almost instantaneously.

"Wow," Midoriya breathed. "That's amazing, Kacchan!"

Tiredly, Bakugou sat down next to him. "It won't cure your mom, if that's what you are thinking," he said.

Midoriya smiled crookedly. "I meant you're amazing, that you know this much about healing."

It almost felt like cheating, to be complimented on something that was purely in his blood. "Yeah, well, I bet you're good at all sorts of shit. You seem like the type," Bakugou deflected. He eyed the boy and he realized he knew hardly anything about the other. Even though he would be gone before the end of the day, he found himself wanting to know more.

Deku's leveled his gaze at him. "Well, my mom is a launderer… so I know a lot about cleaning and repairing clothes… sewing… But what I really wanted to do is to learn how to fight, maybe become a knight."

"Why don't you?"

"My mom is sick," he answered truthfully. His brows drew together, shoulders drooping. "Once she dies, I will be alone. My dad died when I was young and I don't have any living relatives. The other people in my town never cared that much for me and my mom."

Bakugou wanted to punch something. His eye twitched. "Couldn't you just stay with one of your other friends? Round face?" He thought back to how fiercely protective she had been of him.

Deku shook his head. "I wouldn't want to impose on them."

Bakugou wrinkled up his nose, annoyed, and stood abruptly. "Come on, nerd, I'm going to show you around the forest, since you don't much about this place."

"Really?" Deku gasped, standing up immediately.

"Yeah, don't get to excited about it," he grumped, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Come on," he gestured with a shrug of his shoulder.

Deku followed him away.

* * *

 **Sorry it took me 2 weeks to update! I've been busy on vacation and it was my birthday. Also, this chapter brought you actual Disney princess Kacchan with the way he whistled to those bees.**


	12. Chapter 12

"Be very quiet," Bakugou told him as they crept under the shadows of a fallen tree.

This side of the mountain was much cooler than the rest, facing away from the sun entirely. Midoriya crept quietly after the boy in front of him, taking care to step lightly with his newly healed feet. He wished he had his boots again, but he would rather be exploring the forest with Kacchan than anything else right now.

He tried to peak over the blonde's shoulder as they followed a faint path in the forest floor. "They won't try to murder me like the mermaids, will they?" he whispered.

"Nah, they won't want human blood," Kacchan snorted in reply. He seemed amused by his question altogether. Midoriya was almost insulted for the blood of the human race, but there wasn't anything magically about them at all. "Besides," Kacchan continued, "The mermaids just wanted to murder you because of me. They probably would have just played with you, maybe accidently drowned you if I wasn't there."

"Oh," Midoriya said, wrinkling his nose, "I'm sure that would have been so much more pleasant.

Kacchan threw him a grin before turning away, continuing their brigade into the darkened trees. "Just let these guys zip around you, they will get bored with your mundane body in a second. And try to move slowly, pixies are way more scared of us than we are of them, even if they are little bastards."

Midoriya took his words to heart, chewing his lip. Back when he was still living at home with his mother, helping her with the laundry business, he never in his life would have thought he would see a pixie, let alone dragons, mermaids and sludge monsters. Where he lived, magical beasts tended to stay away due to the density of humans all in one area.

"Here," Kacchan said, pulling a branch away from the path to reveal a small clearing. Inside held several soft glowing lights, twinkling. It took just a moment for Midoriya to realize that those tiny lights were the pixies.

He gasped. The sound was sharp enough that the small lights immediately cut out, leaving them in the darkness suddenly.

"Geez, Deku," Kacchan huffed. He pulled himself into the clearing, holding the branch aside for Midoriya to move inside as well.

The small clearing was surrounded by dense trees with small cubby holes, clearly their habitat. The little village could only be accessed by the entrance they had taken. Now that the branch was back in place, the village was once again hidden. The clearing held room enough for maybe only three more people. Midoriya stood close to Kacchan.

"Hey, it's only me," Kacchan said quietly, looking around, searching.

Only a few appeared at his voice. One floated close to him, about two or three inches high, and then landed on Bakugou's palm. Her voice was tiny, like a jingling bell. Midoriya couldn't understand her at all, but she was definitely yelling at Bakugou, shaking her fist at him and standing with her other fist on her hip.

Bakugou's eye twitched. "Do you need to keep bringing that up?" Bakugou bit back in a hushed tone. "I said was sorry already, okay? And I'm not here for anything. I just wanted Deku to meet you."

He and the pixie turned their eyes on Deku, who straightened up from the attention. "Hello, ma'am!" he stuttered.

The voice twinkled.

Kacchan's lips twitched upwards. "He's a bit of a dork, that's why we call him Deku."

"Kacchan!" he squeaked.

"Hold out your hand, Deku," Bakugou told him.

Delicately, Midoriya held a palm upwards. The pixie fluttered her wings and floated over into his hand. She settled to a stop and sat down gracefully at the center, looking at him. She was so pretty! Midoriya wanted to cry. She was a little lady, pale complexion, glowing pink. "I'm holding a little person, Kacchan!" he cried, looking up at the other with watery eyes.

Kacchan was staring at him with wide eyes. Was that a little red across the bridge of his nose?

The soft chime of the pixie's laugh turned his attention back to the little being. "It's nice to meet you," he told her with a smile.

Her voice chimed again. This time, the sound brought other pixies out again. Some began to come float closer. A few settled in his hair. He could feel them prodding and tugging at his green locks. He laughed softly.

It was like a song to hear the hoard of pixies talk to each other, cascading over the others, blending. "What are they saying?"

"They like you," Bakugou said, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "Figures."

"Well, I like them too," he said aloud as a few more landed on his palm and into his hair.

He watched them as they talked to each other, fluttering their clear wings, glowing different colors. The original one spoke loudly and pointed at Bakugou again. The small crowd laughed.

Bakugou had a sneer on his face, face red, avoiding Midoriya's gaze. "What did they say, Kacchan?"

"None of your business." Immediately, a pixie yanked at his ear. "Ow, fuck! Okay!" His red eyes met Midoriya's. Suddenly the smile on Midoriya's face was frozen, his breath caught, just by the way Bakugou was looking at him. This was the softest his eyes have ever been. "They said you're too good for me."

"That's not true!" He blurted, too loud. The pixies plunged them into darkness again, but Midoriya could still feel them settled on his hands and hair. "I mean, Kacchan is one of the most amazing people I know," he whispered.

A beat of silence. Then their soft glow came back, illuminating Kacchan's face again. His eyes searched Midoriya's and suddenly Midoriya felt exposed, vulnerable in front of the other boy. And he wanted to be. What an odd sensation.

A pixie yanked at Bakugou's ear again. "Ow! That's it!" Kacchan snapped, ducking his head as the clearing went darker but not black. "We're getting out of here, Deku. I still have to show you the trolls and maybe you can properly meet the mermaids."

"I'm sorry, everyone, I have to go" he told the pixies nested on his head and hands. "Thank you for meeting with me."

The little things laughed again, fluttering away and into their trees again.

* * *

Midoriya saw many amazing things that day. Just him and Kacchan, traveling around the forest, feet sore but no longer bleeding. He had said hello to the mermaids, who this time only slid down into the water shyly so only their eyes will visible above the water. He visited the trolls, who were short, round little men and women who lived in the low points of the forest. Kacchan told him they liked to steal shiny things from passerby, which is why they were grunting and pointing at the buttons on Midoriya's shirt.

The two had picked berries and snacked on them in the shade of a knotted tree. They stood on Kacchan's favorite cliffs and look-out points.

And now, Midoriya settled by the edge of the water bank of another small pool, watching while Kacchan wandered slightly away from him. The sun was setting, bleeding red across the cool skies and bringing the day to a close. Kacchan's body shadowed against the trees as he kneeled down into the tall blades of grass and weeds. With outstretched hands, he quickly cupped his hands over something Midoriya couldn't see.

He grinned in satisfaction, turning to Midoriya. His heart twisted with something unnamed as Kacchan approached him and pressed his clasped hands into Midoriya's. Midoriya wrapped his palms around Bakugou's instinctively. "Get ready to catch it," Bakugou told him.

Opening his hands into Midoriya's, Midoriya felt something flutter between their palms. When Bakugou pulled back, Midoriya found a firefly in his open hands, blinking in and out of existence like the pixies had.

"Quick, it's going to escape," Bakugou said, leaning in, his breath hot on the back of Midoriya's ears.

Midoriya jumped with a squeak, letting his arms part from each other, giving the firefly an easy escape. "Oh shoot!"

"Such a Deku," Bakugou murmured. There was a note of fondness that once again pricked at Midoriya's chest.

Bakugou settled in next to him, not quite touching, but close enough that Midoriya was aware of his presence. They sat briefly in companionable silence.

"Why haven't you sent me off yet?" Midoriya asked quietly, wrapping his arms around his legs, drawing them to himself.

Bakugou tilted his head, watching Midoriya out of the corner of his eye. "Why haven't you just left yet?"

The clashing of questions pulled him into realization. They were friends! Probably? Why else would Kacchan continue to tolerate his presence? He didn't seem like the type to just waste time on someone he didn't like.

When he looked up, Kacchan's eyes were already on him, watching him curiously. What were they to each other?

"I could probably convince my mom to let you stay one more night, if you want."

"But then I'll have to go?"

"Yeah," Kacchan replied, finally looking away. "It's unsettling to them to have a human in the nests."

Midoriya nodded. It was logical. He was sure his village would be unsettled by a dragon living in the barns.

But it didn't hurt any less, no matter how much sense it made.

"Maybe I should just go now," Midoriya told him. Like ripping off a bandage. If he left now, he could nurse the wound that grew in his chest, that pulsed at the mere thought of never seeing Kacchan again.

Kacchan bumped his shoulder gently, drawing his attention back to the dragon. "It's fine," Bakugou told him. "I wouldn't want your dumbass to freeze out here in the rain tonight."

Midoriya told himself to go. He should just find his friends and find out what they have learned and see if there wasn't something he could do to at least slow his mother's death. He should at least be there when she... when she…

He sniffed.

"What's wrong?" Kacchan demanded immediately.

Midoriya glanced at him through watery eyes and rubbed at them immediately when he saw the bewildered look on Kacchan's face. "It's nothing. Really. It's just my mom—" His voice broke. Between his fingers, the tears spilled over. Embarrassed, he buried his face into his hands. Why did he have to say that? There was nothing Kacchan and the other dragons could do.

He wiped violently at his tears and swallowed back his grief. "No, Kacchan, I should go tonight. I have to meet up with others," he said, his voice only wavering a little bit. "I really should go."

"But—"

"I have to go," Midoriya snapped, his voice rougher than he intended.

Kacchan's eyes flashed in surprise before angling down into a glare, his face closing off. He pulled away from Midoriya before he could say anything more, turning away from him. "Fine, let's go get the rest of your shit before you go."

"Kacchan—"

"Don't call me that," Bakugou said, turning just slightly to glare at him. "Get up and let's go."

Midoriya felt gouged and burned. They had just started to get along. How could Kacchan withdraw that quickly? "Okay, Kacchan."

* * *

The whole village watched as the two trailed back into camp, Bakugou two paces ahead of Midoriya, keeping his distance. Midoriya miserably made his way to the center of the camp.

"Wait here," Bakugou said gruffly before stalking off.

Midoriya looked around. He spotted Kirishima in the crowd, lightly bandaged. Kirishima waved softly at him, inviting him to join him and others by the fire.

"Did you piss off Bakubro?" Kirishima asked as Midoriya sat gingerly down beside him on the log.

"I think so," Midoriya said, glancing at the cave Bakugou had disappeared into. "I'm leaving tonight.

"Oh, I get it," Kirishima said.

"What?"

"He obviously doesn't want you to go."

"But I have to."

"Tonight?" Kirishima asked with a tilt of his head.

Others were watching Midoriya curiously from around the fire. Midoriya didn't want to discuss it any further in front of them. "How are your injuries?"

Kirishima flashed a wry smile. "The best I can be. There is only so much pixie dust can cure. But knowing Bakubro, he'll—" He cut himself off, eyes darting away. "I mean, I'm sure Bakugou will help me apply more." His voice sounded false.

Midoriya searched the other's face.

Kirishima perked up again, changing the subject himself. "You really should stay the night! It's going to rain tonight, ya know?"

"I know," Midoriya said, twisting his hands together. "But I'll be fine. I really need to get back to mother."

"Are you coming back?"

Midoriya looked up in surprise. He'd never even considered it. Why would he? Would Bakugou even want him to? His mouth hung open, gaping with an answer he couldn't find.

"I think Bakugou will miss you," he said softly. His voice and smile were laced with honesty. "Right, Baku?"

Midoriya jumped, realizing Bakugou was standing over him. "I won't miss shit. I probably won't ever see him again."

Wincing, Midoriya stood and pulled the rest of his clothes from Bakugou's hands. He put them on hurriedly, finishing by slipping on his shoes and then turned to address Bakugou and Kirishima, who were now sitting side by side. Bakugou's face was a pout, glaring into the sand. Kirishima gave him a sad smile.

"Well, I'll miss you, Midoriya. I think you made Bakugou a little happy while you were here too."

"Yeah right," the mentioned huffed.

Midoriya's answering smile was bittersweet. "I'll really miss the two of you too. Maybe if you don't mind, I will come back to visit someday." He was speaking to Kirishima but he watched Bakugou and caught the brief glance Bakugou casted him. He averted his eyes immediately. "It was nice to meet you." He held out his hand to Kirishima.

Kirishima jumped up and wrapped Midoriya into a hug, despite his wounds. "Don't be a stranger." He released him.

Midoriya wrung his hands together. "Bye, Kacchan," he chanced the nickname again.

Bakugou's sharp eyes pinned him, still slanted into a tight glare. He stood slowly, towering, threatening, standoffish. "See ya, Deku." Turning on his heel, he stocked off in the direction of the caves.

"Bakugou!" Kirishima called after him.

"It's okay," Midoriya said, rubbing the back of his neck and kicked a little at the ground. "It's fine."

"Here," Kirishima said, shoving a small jar into his hand. "It's pixie dust. It's not much but it can help with your mom's pain."

"Thank you," he said, touched. He pocketed the jar and then straightened up. "Well, I'm off."

"Do you want me to walk you part of the way?"

Midoriya shook his head. "I'm fine. Goodbye."

"Bye!" Kirishima and a few of the others chorused.

Midoriya slipped out the front path, being careful not to look back.


	13. Chapter 13

The dragons were right. It was supposed to rain tonight.

Down only a quarter of the mountain, the rain began to dot the ground, drip across Midoriya's nose and hair. The rain was cold as it dripped down the nape of his neck; he wrapped his arms around himself as he started to walk.

He knew the general direction of where he had last camped. Once he found that, he could follow the path he and his friends had made into the forest. Eventually he should come upon his friends and they would make their way back home.

Patting the jar of pixie dust in his pocket, he ensured it was still safe. He had to protect at this much before he got back to his mother. He wondered what he would possibly tell her when he got back, if she would even be aware of his presence when he got there.

He let out a slow breath and continued his descent.

The water started to come down in droves now, chilling him to the bone. His teeth chattered. It was all he could hear beyond the white noise of the downpour. The rain was straight down, but yet the forest trees were deadly still.

Midoriya sighed, his breath barely visible in the chilly rain. It was still summertime, but today was utterly cold. He was glad for his gloves and the clothes he had, but regret made its home in his chest. He could have saved himself this miserable walk if he'd just stayed in the dragon village.

His shoes were sturdy, but even so, they squelched with wet socks. The tips of his toes tingled numbly.

Pausing, he squinted into the darkened forest. It was not yet pitch black, but the rain made it nearly impossible to see in front of him. He wondered if it would be better use of his time to make camp for the night and set out renewed in the morning. His eyes roamed over the fuzzy shapes of distant trees and the landscape about him. He didn't see any immediate shelter.

He would just have to keep on walking.

* * *

Bakugou had wandered off from the village's center, but he knew Kirishima would find him sooner or later. He smelt his friend before he saw him, and he shifted, making himself more presentable where he crouched in an empty cave near the top of the others. This nest had not been used in a long time.

Kirishima's footsteps crunched as he rounded the small path to Bakugou's spot. "You should just make this your nest. You hang out in here enough," Kirishima said with a small smile, and crouching into the small cramped burrow. Bakugou knew Kirishima was looking over his injuries by the way he eyes raked over the length of his body.

"I'm fine," Bakugou said before the other could ask, pressing his fingers lightly to the cut on his forehead. It stung at his light touch. "But you need help. You're a mess," Bakugou told him, pulling his fingers away to ignore the throb.

Kirishima was sheepish as he moved inside the cave, his shoulders speckled with the beginnings of the rain. "I wouldn't ask that from you, ya know?"

"Yeah, but you knew I would anyway, so what difference does it make?" Bakugou grumbled, scooting closer as Kirishima sat down gingerly. He was already peeling back the bandages before Kirishima could protest. Several bandages on his chest had been hiding an ugly bruise- black, blue and green. The others on his head, arms, shoulders revealed partially healed cuts from the impact and more hideous bruising. The pixie dust had accelerated the healing but not much beyond that. "I don't have a knife," Bakugou realized as soon as the wounds met open air.

"I really don't need you to," Kirishima said quietly. "You do enough for me, ya know?"

"I'm the reason you're like this, so shut up." Bakugou looked down at his palm briefly, grimacing, before digging his canines into the flesh wound he'd used for Deku, ripping at the scab. His teeth were nowhere near as sharp as Kirishima's, but he was a dragon underneath this human form. His bite punctured the skin and new blood bubbled from the wound.

Kirishima's brows were drawn together as Bakugou started to smear his blood into the individual open wounds. When he was done, he held his palm out to Kirishima. "Lick it."

Kirishima looked pained, but he did as he was told, licking up Bakugou's blood in one swipe. "I feel like a dick, every time I do that," Kirishima complained. "It takes you so long to heal your own wounds." His eyes flickered up to the cut on Bakugou's forehead.

The wound was small, and it had clotted, but they both knew it would be a while before the wound was gone, let alone the scar.

Bakugou felt himself sinking into the old nightmare. _Huddled in the dark. All alone. Every bit of his body ached, blood everywhere, someone collecting it from him. His own whimpering. Kirishima lying motionless nearby. Crying. Where's mom? Dad? Someone? More pain._

"Bakugou?" Kirishima asked, snapping him out of it.

Flinching, Bakugou blinked rapidly. "How's the wounds?" he asked his friend, clearing his throat, trying to focus on Kirishima.

"As usual," Kirishima said, gesturing to his rapidly disappearing wounds, the bruises that receded.

"Good," Bakugou sighed.

Kirishima shifted, taking in a deep breath. He frowned, sniffing again. "You smell like Midoriya, like a lot," Kirishima said with a wrinkle of his nose.

Bakugou pushed him. "I do not, shut up."

"Your nest was his scent entirely. Your mom was screeching about it all morning."

That stole a smile from Bakugou. He could imagine it.

"Are you going to go after Midoriya?"

"Hah? Why would I do that?"

"You like him," Kirishima said simply. His red eyes were determined. He leaned forward to sniff at him. "I can smell it on you."

Bakugou's body seized up. He smashed his uninjured hand into Kirishima's face, pushing him away from him. "Fuck off, I do not. I'm going back to my nest." He shuffled to his feet, wiping his blood on Kirishima's scarf before storming out into the rain.

"My clothes!" Kirishima called after him.

* * *

Bakugou's nest did actually smell like Midoriya, he realized, as he sat gingerly into it, careful not to breathe in too heavily. He held his breath, almost choking on the boy's lingering scent. How was it more obvious now that Midoriya was gone?

His stomach was sour with the doubt that suddenly crowded his mind. Leaning over, he picked up the discarded blanket between two pinched fingers, bringing it up to eye level. He stared at the offending article with brows furrowed.

Giving in, he breathed in just the slightest. A shiver ran involuntarily down his spine. Shocked, Bakugou threw the blanket to the side and shot across his nest to the other side, eyes wide. What the fuck…

He turned his head to the side and found his cape. Picking it up, he threw it on with his heart pounding, threatening to leap out of his chest. What was this sense of panic? Why did he suddenly feel so desperate?

"Katsuki," his mother's voice echoed into the cave.

Bakugou winced at her voice. He felt caught red-handed, even though he hadn't been doing anything incriminating. He looked over his shoulder with growing impatience. His muscles ached to move.

"Katsuki," she said again, crossing the small light of the flickering fire and looking down at him. Her face was morphed into an emotion Bakugou couldn't read. "Weren't you going to bed?" Her voice seemed to plead with him.

"Yeah, I was," he said, even though he knew now that he would do anything but.

They looked at each other, the sound of rain echoing between them. When Bakugou couldn't meet her gaze any longer, his eyes darted away to the hazy almost pitch-black night outside their cave.

"No, you aren't," she said softly. "You were going to go after that boy."

He looked at her through the corner of his eyes. "Was not."

"I know my own son. And you always do the opposite of what I want you to." She crouched down and into his space, and placed a light hand into his blonde locks. Her fingers soothed him, carding through the fluffy locks.

He ducked out of her grasp but he looked back at her as she lowered her outstretched hands. "He really shouldn't be out in this rain," Bakugou mumbled, crossing his arms. "He's an idiot that will just get himself hurt. He's probably stuck in some mud somewhere, crying his eyes out, and it will be up to me to save his ass."

Her expression softened. "Yeah, but you won't be much help to him either. It's getting pretty dark out, you won't be able to see anything… At least take Kirishima with you. He can protect you if it comes to it."

"I can do this by myself."

"If you don't take Kirishima with then I'm just going to follow you around the forest."

Bakugou grimaced, ducking out of the way of her hand once again and heading to the front. "Yeah, yeah, hag, I'll make sure to bring him." He passed his father on the way out and avoided his affectionate attempt at a hug. "Don't wait up!" he called over his shoulder.

His hair flattened to his head as he stepped out into the torrential rain. "Kirishima!" he hollered in no particular direction. "Get your ass over here!"

Kirishima tapped him on the shoulder, scaring the shit out of him. "Dude, I was waiting for you to sneak out anyway. Let's go find your boy."

* * *

Midoriya's foot sank in deep squelching mud and the more he struggled, the more he seemed to submerge. "Come on," Midoriya moaned, on the edge of despair, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. "Why is this happening now?"

He jostled his leg back and forth, working at the suctioning mud, trying to pry free. The cakey mess was up to his shin. Honestly, he was unsure if he had stepped into a sinkhole or what. He really couldn't see in this darkness and through the rain. The little light that there was showed almost nothing in front of him.

The back of his neck chilled while a horrible thrill tore through his nerves. Something was watching him, he could feel their eyes on his back like a creeping spider. He stilled, letting his leg sink back further into the mud.

He couldn't hear anything, the sound of rain too much to distinguish anything. Nonetheless, he covered his mouth with his hand, taking slow breaths, hoping to make himself invisible to whatever could be hunting him. His eyes scanned the darkness around him, trying to conjure the hidden figure in the shadows.

The silhouette of trees loomed over him, his hands and nails scraped at the mud around him, and only the rain crossed his eyes.

Suddenly, something grabbed him around the neck, paralyzing Midoriya with fear. His lungs erupted into a loud cry that echoed for just a moment before dying as the pressure tightened. The hand on him felt cold and stiff and dead, and hot breath tickled in his ear. The whisper that came from this creature crept down his spine as it said, "Don't move. If you move an inch, I'll kill you."

Midoriya sat perfectly motionless under the threatening grip of the unknown force behind him. "What do you want from me?" His voice shaking, almost drowned through the downpour.

"I'm just being a good Samaritan and helping you out of this mud," the voice chuckled, scratchy and strained.

The hand pulled on his neck, choking him as he was drug from the mud. He gasped for air, clawing at the hand, writhing with the pain. _No! Not again!_

As soon as his foot was free the hand dropped him, leaving Midoriya to cough and sputter. The hand grabbed his chin, forcing him to look up at the being. Midoriya's eyes widened in horror. It was the figure of a man but he was ghostly and deathly white and… the severed hands! Severed hands were gruesomely attached to his face and arms and body.

"You are going to do something for me," the voice behind the severed hand said smugly. He wrapped a hand around Midoriya's throat once again, squeezing tightly. "You know a Katsuki Bakugou, don't you?"

* * *

 **Hey guys, sorry about the delay on this chapter! Thanks to the person who asked me if this story was abandoned, that really got me in gear.**


	14. Chapter 14

Lightning flashed overhead, making everything bright and visible for one moment. Bakugou tried to sniff the air for Midoriya's scent but it was fruitless in the rain. Everything was washed away, no traces of Midoriya's footsteps in the mud either. "Where is he?" Bakugou said aloud, water pouring down his face.

"What?" Kirishima cried as the thunder drowned them out once again, directly over them. Both boys flinched.

"How are we going to find him?" he hollered back to his friend, turning his head to squint through the darkness. He was virtually blind.

Kirishima looked up into the sky, blinking rapidly against the rain. "I could go fly around, see if I can spot him or hear him or something."

"The visibility is low," Bakugou said, ducking under another swaying branch in their descent down the slope, "and the wind is picking up."

Kirishima grinned, brushing his limp hair out of his eyes. "I can fly through anything. I've had worse." He tilted his head. "You'll be alright, right?"

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "It's just stupid Deku. It's fine."

Kirishima nodded, "I'll stay close!" He stepped away, allowing the red glow of his magic surround him. The squelching and cracking sound of the transformation was somewhat muffled by the howling wind. The transformation was generally a painful process, but it was tolerable if anything for most of the dragons. Red shining scales shone in the darkness, revealing his darkened silhouette. Bakugou wished dragons didn't have such shitty vision.

Wind from Kirishima's wings pulled at Bakugou's wet locks, and he sighed, resentful, at how easily Kirishima had transformed and took off into the stormy skies. Another flash of lightning illuminated him amongst the clouds. Tearing his eyes away, he continued to walk into trees.

The distant sound of wings, although he couldn't see him, followed him indistinctly from every step.

* * *

The horrific being tapped each individual finger in turn against Midoriya's throat. "Why aren't you answering?" the man growled, getting way too close to Midoriya's face with the deadened hand.

Midoriya's breath came ragged, trembling in the offender's hands, wondering what will happen to him, what will become of Kacchan. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself against the grio on his throat.

"Aw, you're shaking," the voice chuckled. The hand tightened and the pressure became too tight against his wind pipe. Any further and he would surely choke. "Let's introduce ourselves, shall we? I'm Shigaraki…"

"What do you want?" Midoriya gasped, reaching up to pull at the hand.

Shigaraki squeezed hard, shaking Midoriya violently. "You didn't answer the question!" He loosened his grip, tilting his head so the shadow of his eye peaked out. "Now, please, your name?"

It wasn't just rainwater in his eyes now, tears blurred his vision. "Midoriya," he gasped. His body visibly deflated, defeated.

The fingers tapped once again. "Midoriya…That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

Shigaraki moved so that he was directly in Midoriya's eyeline. Midoriya's heart thumped in his chest, blood rushing past his ears. His lower lip trembled. The man in front of him slowly grinned, his chapped lips showed from beneath the severed hand. What was he?

"Tell me, Midoriya. How close are you with Katsuki Bakugou?"

Midoriya's eyes darted away. He swallowed thickly under the burning gaze of this beast of a person. There was no way he could tell Shigaraki about Kacchan. He would forfeit his life in exchange for Kacchan's safety; and really, what was there to stop him? His mother would be dead before he knew it. He knew that the little pixie dust that he had would not save her. He was also highly aware he would not be missed in his village. Who was there to look for him after this?

The new friends he had made… they would move on, maybe assume he went back to his village. The dragons? They already thought he was long gone. No one would ever miss him if he died.

He bowed his head in resignation at his fate.

The hand clenched and Midoriya choked, clawing at the fingers once again. His body was raggedly shaken under Shigaraki's grip.

"You aren't listening to me! You aren't answering me! You are supposed to obey me!" Shigaraki snarled.

"That won't get him to talk," a bored voice resonated over them.

Midoriya's gaze snapped to his right. There were two figures standing there, drenched but unaffected. The taller was a man, his dark hair shadowing his face, but his body was a horrific display of patchwork skin. The extra skin was discolored and battered as if it were rotting as it lived.

The other, a girl maybe around Midoriya's age, would have looked a little more normal, if not for the crazed look in her eyes or the way she seemed to buzz in place. Her draping dress was surrounded by two satchels and they clinked with the sway of her hips as she stepped closer.

"Ohh," she purred, "he's a cute one and he looks like he'll easily submit." She turned her eyes onto Shigaraki and patted one of the satchels.

Midoriya did not know what that meant but Shigaraki certainly did. He let go of Midoriya, who fell into the mud face first, and he clawed at the ground, coughing and sputtering. Shigaraki stood but ground his foot into Midoriya's back, keeping him grounded. midoriya continued to gasp against his abused trachea.

The girl removed a vial of something and a large ungodly syringe. "What are you going to make him do?" she asked of Shigaraki.

Shigaraki tilted his head. "I know he has had contact with the brat. I had watched them walk together in the forest. I believe we can bait the dragon out with this kid."

"Never," Midoriya spat, his whole body tensed. He would never betray Kacchan.

The three looked down at him, amused. "I don't think you'll have a choice," the girl grinned.

Shigaraki turned his attention back to the girl and took the syringe while she opened the vial of murky black liquid. Shigaraki turned the needle onto himself and pushed the long tip into his arm, without even a flinch. Slowly he pulled at the syringe, removing enough blood to fill half of the needle's base. He then removed it in favor of plunging it into the vial of liquid, filling the rest of the empty space with it.

A loud crack of lightning flashed over them as Shigaraki turned on him. The girl laughed. "It's my special elixir," she told him. "This will help you be a little more obedient to our master."

Midoriya jolted against the foot holding him down, but Shigaraki dug his heel further into Midoriya's spine. He moaned in pain.

The syringe glinted briefly in the low light but Shigaraki paused. He tilted his head. "Hear that?"

All three paused.

Midoriya at first didn't hear anything, didn't know what he was talking about, but then the distant echo reached his ears. A voice. Calling into the darkness. Saying a name. _His name._

"Kacchan," tumbled from Midoriya's lips. His body shook.

"Our guest is ahead of schedule," Shigaraki said, turning back.

"We don't even have to bait him!" the girl said joyfully.

Shigaraki removed his foot from Midoriya's back and squat down by him, pulling at his hair to tilt his gaze upwards. "Like I said, Midoriya. You will be doing something for me." He turned to his companions. "Hold him down."

"No!" Midoriya cried out, thrashing and screaming, just before the girl slapped a hand over his open mouth. She sat down onto his back as the tall man held his arms and legs.

Kacchan's echoing call was heard again but distorted in the wind. The sound of wings was growing overhead. These sounds ignited new fight in Midoriya and he thrashed harder. Midoriya wished he could call to the other, to let him know not to come this way.

"Quickly!" the girl cried. "Before we're spotted."

Shigaraki plunged the needle into Midoriya's neck, shooting the liquid into his veins in one push. At first, Midoriya felt nothing and continued to struggle.

But then… his body began to feel heavy and his heart slowed, a false calm overcoming him. Slowly, his arms and legs stilled, relaxing all too much for the panic that was racing in his mind. It was like he was a separate entity from his body, disconnected in every way that mattered. He wanted to sob in his defeat but his body did not comply. He was a blank slate.

"There we are," Shigaraki said, handing the needle back to the girl who stowed it away into one of the pouches. "Let him up."

The two on him removed themselves and the tall patchwork man grabbed him by his collar and lifted him to his feet. His body did not react, only standing like a perfect statue.

Shigaraki stood in his view, blocking off his eyeline from all others. "Now listen to my instructions, Midoriya…"

He handed Midoriya a knife.

* * *

"Midoriya!" Bakugou called, hands cupped to allow his voice to echo further into the forest. "Deku!"

Bakugou craned his neck in all directions, trying to make out the individual shapes of the forest. He squinted, walking blindly deeper and deeper into the thick canopy of trees.

"Midoriya!"

He gritted his teeth, receiving no response. There was no inkling of the boy, no sign that he'd been through here.

Glancing upwards, Bakugou caught another glimpse of Krishima circling above him. He wondered if Kirishima could even make anything out up there. Huffing, he turned back to his path and continued to call out for his friend. With every unspoken call, a festering unease nested in his throat. He swallowed it back, trying to stave off the unwelcome feeling.

"Midoriya!" he hollered again.

There was a pause, just rain, and then a distant echoing cry.

Bakugou inhaled sharply, bracing himself on a tree trunk, skidding to stop in the mud and caking his bare feet full of it. He stared unseeingly off into the direction he had heard the cry. "Midoriya!" he cried again. This time, there was no answer.

He took off in that direction, his feet slapping into the mud as he ran, arms moving to keep his balance on the slippery uneven terrain. He continued to call Midoriya's name as he ran, hoping to catch some sort of reply on his way.

What if the nerd had fallen into the water and was drowning? What if he was being eaten by some sort of monster? What if he was injured and passed out somewhere? Thousands of thoughts raced through his mind, the next worse than the first.

It felt like he was running and yelling forever with Kirishima dutifully following him overhead. He felt useless in that moment; like maybe he wasn't good enough to save Midoriya from whatever danger he could be in.

But suddenly a figure entered his view just as he was running past it. Bakugou yelped and skid to another stop, wind milling his arms. His feet squelched in the mud as he turned.

There stood Midoriya. His boots, pants, white shirt… everything was caked in mud; his green locked were soaked and pressed down into his face; his head was turned down, hiding his face from view.

Bakugou glanced down at his own feet and found the mud pit a few feet from where he stood. That could really be a bitch in this weather. "Shit," he said aloud, glancing back at Midoriya. The boy still had not moved. "Shit, are you okay?" he asked as he quickly stepped to Midoriya's side. He placed a hand on Midoriya's shoulder, eyes raking over him to look for any sort of damage, injuries, anything.

There was nothing. "Hey," Bakugou said softly, glancing again at Midoriya's face. "Deku, you got yourself stuck in some shitty mud?" he tried to joke. Nothing. He tilted his head and slowly, as not to startle, lifted his hand to brush the green locks away from Midoriya's face.

Midoriya was staring straight ahead, almost unseeingly. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, bending just the slightest to look up on into his eyes. "I think you should come back—"

He choked on his words, cut off suddenly by the abrupt but familiar sensation of a blade… shoved directly into his stomach. The pain lagged after by a second, lapping around his vision like a red curtain.

 _What?_

 _Why?_

Then Midoriya's eyes snapped to his.


	15. Chapter 15

Midoriya could do nothing, it felt as if a mist was wrapped around his body and he was trapped somewhere in the back of his own mind. He couldn't see anything outside of his own eyes but he was still aware of movement. He had been standing still for what felt like an eternity and now there was someone moving around in front of him. With everything he had, he hoped it was not Kacchan.

Desperately he tried to at least blink his eyes. Nothing.

He clawed at the walls of his mind, pulling himself towards the front, towards the windows of his eyes. He peered through them hazily, which were trained at a slight downward gaze into the mud. The speckling rain didn't affect his tightly opened eyes. The distant booming of lightning did nothing to stir his body.

A distant voice over the rumbling. A body coming to stand in front of him. Bare feet.

 _Kill. Kill. Kill._

The form of the person before him ducked down just enough to glance up at him. Midoriya would have sucked in a breath if he could.

He couldn't see that full person's face, but he recognized the lips, the narrow bridge of his nose. _KACCHAN!_ He screamed with all of his soul. _NO, No, please no…._

For the first time in what felt like a century, Midoriya finally felt his arm, it pulsed with built up energy. Something weighted was in his hand. When he realized what it was, it was too late. His arm thrusted forward, meeting resistance.

His world froze.

The feeling of his hand on a hilt was the first thing to resonate with him. Then the pattering of rain rushed into his ears, filling his body with the world once more. Then his eyes. He snapped his eyes upwards at the person before him, meeting crimson eyes.

Lightning flashed around them and Midoriya was struck with the situation. Sucking in a harsh gasp, he let go of the knife. "No!" Midoriya cried, going to reach for Kacchan.

Kacchan flinched away violently, his eyes stuttering with blatant betrayal. He pressed his own hands near the wound and Midoriya watched in horror as he smeared at the blood, fingers shaking just inches away from the knife. "Why?" Kacchan said finally, voice thick, accusing, faltering.

"Kacchan, no," Midoriya said, eyes blurring. He couldn't get the words out. He couldn't say that he didn't mean to. His eyes were stuck on the horrific gouge, knife protruding. Could he even survive that?

Kacchan swayed, a foot staggering to keep himself upright. Midoriya went to help him, arms outstretched. Kacchan knocked his fingers away, a glare training upwards as he hunched in on himself. His fingers went closer yet towards the knife.

"Kacchan, don't pull it out," Midoriya said, grabbing onto his shoulders again. If Kacchan pulled it out, he would bleed out, wouldn't he? Midoriya didn't know much about healing, but he knew that much.

"F-f-fuck you," Bakugou spat. He wrapped his hand around the knife and yanked it out before Midoriya could stop him. Bakugou screamed through his teeth, finally going down.

Midoriya caught his weight, just as the knife sliced into the mud. "Kacchan, you are going to bleed out!" Midoriya panicked, cradling Bakugou's body delicately in his arms. "Hold on! We'll figure it out."

Suddenly there was a roar overhead. Midoriya looked up too late, not even seeing the attacker before it impacted him, throwing him from Bakugou's body. He hit the ground and went rolling, crying out at as he spun and squelched to a stop in the mud.

It didn't even faze him; he went to his hands and knees in an instant, pushing his head up to look to Kacchan in a panic.

He stilled, relieved. The dragon, Kirishima, had caught Kacchan by his cape in his teeth. Bakugou had gone limp, eyes glazed but still open. Kirishima laid Kacchan down into the mud slowly, gently, tenderly; as much as a dragon could anyway.

Midoriya tried to get to his feet to go them but Kirishima turned on him, roaring. The howl sent Midoriya to his knees by the sheer surprise of it.

Growling at him, Kirishima turned towards the sky, sucking in a breath and letting out the most ear-piercing and heart-breaking cry. Louder than the rain and the thundering in the sky, Kirishima howled. Birds fluttered out of their hiding and Midoriya slapped his hands over his ears, blocking back the sound the best he could.

Shortly after, Kirishima turned back to Kacchan and quickly morphed his body. Midoriya stood as he did, taking his hands away from his head as he watched as Kirishima emerged, already crying. "No, dude, you can't do this to me, it can't be that easy."

"I'm fine, 'Shima," Kacchan's voice was weak and quiet, his hand reaching up to tug at Kirishima's scarf. He attempted to use his grip on Kirishima to sit up and both boys startled forwards, hands outstretched. "Kacchan!" "Katsuki."

At their simultaneous words, Kirishima's head snapped up, red eyes meeting Midoriya's eyes. "What the fuck did you do to him?" Kirishima cried, his voice pure agony, laying Bakugou down again, prying his hands away.

Kirishima's tone matched what Midoriya felt inside. "Kacchan…" he started.

Kirishima didn't let him finish. "You bastard!" he hollered, cracking Midoriya's face to the side with a brutal punch. Midoriya fell backwards into the mud, his shocked cry echoed through the forest. His chin throbbed, but he pushed himself up to face Kirishima.

He huffed in a shallow breath. "I don't want to fight you," Midoriya cried desperately, trying to catch a glimpse of Kacchan over Kirishima's shoulder.

"That sucks," Kirishima yelled, his eyes unforgiving, "because I want to fight you." Somewhere behind him, Bakugou was coughing, and the sounds made Kirishima tenser, eyes widening. "What the hell were you doing, Midoriya? Were you just toying with us, with Bakugou this whole time? To kill him?"

"No!" Midoriya cried, struggling to his feet. His grasped at the empty air, desperate, ready to beg

"Shut up!" Kirishima cried, his eyes dancing with his emotion. His body shuddered with his next breath. "I can't believe I trusted him to you." He threw himself at Midoriya and again, there was nothing Midoriya could do. He could only brace himself for the inevitable pain of the next punch.

It didn't come. Midoriya cracked one open, his body still wound up from the looming danger that threatened him.

Kirishima was still in front of him, but he wasn't moving, and he wasn't looking at Midoriya. His eyes were wide, jagged teeth clenched, but Midoriya could see the slightest of quivers to his lower lip.

Midoriya slowly followed his gaze through the darkness…and his body felt like stone. _No. Not here, not yet._

"You," Kirishima snarled. Before him stood Shigaraki, seemingly appearing out of thin air, looming menacingly in the darkness. The whiteness of his teeth was visible beneath the dead hand on his face, even through the seemingly endless shadows. Kirishima surreptitiously tilted his head just slightly to get a quick glance at Bakugou.

Midoriya did the same. His heart dropped into his stomach.

The cornered look Kacchan had given him earlier was nothing compared the look on his face now. He was sitting up, legs bent, tensed and ready to fly to his feet. His face twisted into a look of horror, pure fear. Now, more than ever, Midoriya flared with a deep need to protect Kacchan. To never see that look on his face again.

"Good job, Midoriya," Shigaraki laughed shortly. "That was too easy."

The two dragons turned to look at him and Midoriya jolted under their eyes. Kirishima casted him a calculating expression, frown carving deep lines between his brows. Bakugou barely spared him a look, his expression carefully turning blank as he avoiding Midoriya's eyes and slowly pulled himself to his feet. His legs trembled visibly and fingers trembled, while one hand pushed at the blooming wound.

Kirishima snarled, turning a glare at the man. "You're outnumbered. We won't let you.' take Bakugou again."

Shigaraki laughed again. "Against the three of you? One baby dragon, a useless human, and injured pet? I think I can handle it." He tilted his head to one side. "Besides, I don't think I'm outnumbered at all." He tilted his body slightly to the left.

Another clap of lightning roared overhead as out of the shadows stepped the two Midoriya had fought against earlier.

"Katsuki may remember them," Shigaraki told them. "Himiko, Dabi?" The two flanked Shigaraki. One, the shorter blonde girl with a wild look in her eyes. The other, the man with black hair, deadened skin and a bored expression.

Himiko laughed, collapsing into herself manically. "Shiggy, he wouldn't remember me! We were both little toddlers then, of course he doesn't remember me!" She craned her neck to look over her shoulder at Bakugou. "Right, Katsuki?"

Bakugou swayed but his face was still devoid of any true emotion, but he forced a glare there. "Fuck you," he growled out. He hunched just the slightest over the wound. Midoriya noticed a sway to his stance… they would need to get him out of here as soon as possible.

Kirishima had the same idea. "Midoriya, take Bakugou and get out of here."

Midoriya took a hesitant step in Bakugou's direction.

"Don't even think about it," Shigaraki commanded, the smile wiped from his face. "Precious little Katsuki is coming with us."

Suddenly, from behind Kirishima, Bakugou fainted. Midoriya turned his eyes on the boy just as his eyes rolled up into his head and he fell unceremoniously into the mud below. Dead weight.

"Kacchan!" Midoriya cried, running to the other, sliding down onto his knees. He couldn't properly see the extent of the wound, but he could see the dark stain of the wound and that Bakugou's eyes were closed. Quickly, he slid his arms under the larger boy and lifted him into his arms. The weight didn't even bother him, he just needed Kacchan to be okay.

"Hand the boy over and we will heal him," Shigaraki said. "He will not survive with you."

"He'll pull through," Kirishima spat, squaring his shoulder and facing them with a scowl. "Midoriya, go."

Shigaraki turned to his companions. "Retrieve Bakugou."

Dabi threw up a wall of blue fire behind Midoriya, impossibly hot. The two advanced on Midoriya and Bakugou, and Shigaraki said, "Bakugou is no use to us dead. We can take him out of your hands."

"You need to get him out of here," Kirishima said, backing up next to Midoriya. His face was cast in blue light, his eyes terrorized. "No matter what happens next, you need to get him out of here."

Midoriya nodded, tightening his grasp on Kacchan's limp body.

"You need to go," Kirishima hissed before turning back to the advancing opponents. Midoriya turned away just as the crack of bones overtook them with Kirishima's transformation, followed by the rattling Kirishima's dragon cry.

Midoriya ran to the fire that encroached the clearing. He didn't know what the fire would do, why it was blue… it must be magic of some kind. But there was no time to think.

Quickly he ran into the fire. His body screamed, his body shuddered as the fire seemed to engulf his organs, his nerves, his blood.

Midoriya cried out, stumbling out of the flames to the other side and going down to his knees. He couldn't feel his arms as they failed him, dropping Bakugou to the ground, as the agony ate at him. With his vision blurring, he turned to look back at Kirishima as the dragon roared and screeched under Dabi's flame attacks.

Shigaraki stared at Midoriya over the flames, his smile back and steady.

His throat constricted. He wasn't going to get far under these conditions because if he would have to go through those fires again, he was pretty sure he would die.

"Do you need more persuasion, Midoriya?" Himiko's voice startled him. She stood over Bakugou, a vial in her hand glinted under the blue glow. He didn't know what was in that vial, but he didn't want to find out.

"Get away from him!" Midoriya yelled.

She laughed and stomped a heavy boot onto Bakugou's arm carelessly; his limp body did not react. "Just give him up, he's coming with us anyway. We need him more than you anyway." She bent over him with the vial, uncorking it, bringing it close to his lips.

Midoriya exploded. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" He screamed, tackling at her, even with his burning limbs.

The something strange happened. His body began to glow golden as he attacked the girl, the vial flinging from her grasp and he pinned her down as the light engulfed his arms. The pain was ripped away like a bandage. Suddenly his body felt inflamed with power.

With eyes wild, he snapped his eyes back at Kacchan and pushed away from the girl, scooping Kacchan with a strength he did not know he had. As he rose, he once again made eye contact with Shigaraki. The wild man narrowed his eyes at him. "I see. You're one, just like _him._ "

Midoriya did not know what that meant, nor did he care to know. He just turned on his heel and ran for it.

"Get back here!" Himiko screamed, scrambling back up to her feet.

The golden light was once again fading from his body. But where the golden was fading his body, the sound of more dragons overhead grew. Midoriya's breathing came out in labored huffs but kept himself running. He couldn't afford to stop, even if help was coming. Who knows what those monsters had up their sleeves?

Besides.

He needs to worry about Kacchan now.


	16. Chapter 16

Midoriya was stumbling under Bakugou's dead weight by the time he tripped into the entrance of a cave. Bakugou's cape was heavy with rain and mud and it trailed against the dirt as Midoriya struggled to put Bakugou down as gently as he could.

God, what would he do? Would Bakugou be okay? The panic was rising in his chest as he looked at the disheveled boy in front of him.

Blood caked Bakugou's chest, still wet and fresh. Midoriya immediately pressed a hand against the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He huffed in frustration when his hand was coated in the warm liquid. With his free hand, he attempted to tear away a piece of the fabric of his shirt, his vest, anything! But his hand kept sliding under the wetness of the clothes.

A loud but distant dragon roar had Midoriya flinching, pressing his hand too hard into Bakugou's wound. Unconsciously, Bakugou winced, brow furrowed.

Frightened, Midoriya took his hand away from Bakugou, hurrying to the entrance. Did someone follow them? He had nothing to defend them with, not unless the golden light came back, but even then, he couldn't rely on that. It only lasted a few moments at a time.

Midoriya took soft steps closer into the light filtering through the entrance, trying to listen through the rain for any indication of a person beyond. More dragon roars joined Kirishima's pained screech, joining in to the fight. Midoriya squinted, pressed against the cave entrance, trying to see movement beyond the trees. He was not too far from the fight, but he hadn't been able to carry Bakugou any further.

The shadows of the trees lit up blue here and there as Dabi's fire raged. But there were other whirling colors joining the blue. Were there more followers of Shigaraki?

A flash of gold suddenly appeared in Midoriya's peripheral and Midoriya jumped as a man seemed to materialize beside him. He gaped, remembering. All Might!

"Young Bakugou!" the man cried, jolting towards the entrance of the cave.

"No!" Midoriya cried, throwing himself into the larger man's path. "I won't let you touch him."

"I'm here to protect him! It is my duty!" All Might declared, shoving Midoriya out of the way.

Midoriya held onto his large biceps, refusing to be tossed aside. "Then where were you a second ago?!" Midoriya cried, the emotions boiling over. A sob ripped its way out of Midoriya's throat and he sagged against All Might, starting to cry. "If you were supposed to protect him, why weren't you here? He's dying," he spat angrily, tightening his grip on the man's arms.

All Might's muscular body, for the second time, shrunk into a frail figure of a man. "My power is dying," he said simply. He looked down at the boy in front of him, frowning. "I do not have time to talk about this, the forest is in danger."

Midoriya allowed his hands to fall away. "What do you mean?"

All Might looked out at the distant evidence of the dragon fight. "If I don't do something, those beings will kill each other," he explained. He then glanced up at the dark shadows of the trees above them. "But first I must take care of young Bakugou."

Stepping into his path once again, Midoriya stopped him. "What do you plan on doing with him?"

He gestured to the trees he had been looking at. "Look there. Look at what are already happening to the trees."

Midoriya couldn't see. It was too dark. He squinted at them, but kept his awareness on All Might, not exactly trusting this not to be a trap.

The older man sighed and allowed the golden light encase his right arm and lifted it up to illuminate the clearing. Midoriya gasped. The tips of the leaves of the trees were bleeding a putrid black from its tip, curling inwards as if dying. "What…?" Midoriya started.

"I need to do something to help young Bakugou or else the forest will slowly die with him," All Might said roughly as he doused the light. "Now let me pass."

Midoriya stumbled out of the way but kept close on All Might's heel as he entered into the cave, going straight to the unconscious boy on the floor. He knelt down and his hand hovered over the horrific wound. "He's never been good at healing himself," All Might mumbled to himself.

Once again, the gold glittered forth, engulfing his right hand, brightest at the tips. All Might's face screwed up in concentration, it looked almost painful, and he ghosted the hand over Bakugou's wound briefly and then pulled back, letting the light die. Midoriya's eyes roamed over the wound and didn't really see a difference, not really.

All Might explained before he could ask, "I did my best to patch up some of the internal damage." He panted, now out of breath. "That's the little I could do in my state. He is still in danger and will need to be watched closely."

He ripped off some of his own fabric of his loose clothes and handed it to Midoriya, who took it wordlessly and put the cloth aside momentarily. "How did you control the golden light? Mine only comes and goes! What is it exactly? Why is yours dying?"

"What?" All Might turned to him in surprise. "What did you say?"

"My golden light…" he trailed off.

"You have it?" All Might gasped, eyes wide. "Impossible!" Nonetheless he grabbed onto Midoriya's wrist and pulsed the golden glow. For a moment, it engulfed Midoriya's entire body before disappearing again. "Impossible," All Might said again.

"What is it?" Midoriya asked, worried.

All Might stood, taking his hand away from the boy. "There's no time," he said, glancing towards the entrance, towards the sounds of battle, of screaming dragons and rampaging magic. "I must help in the fight with the dragons. There aren't many of them, but there are many of Shigaraki's league"

He turned back to Midoriya, a stern frown pointed at the boy. "You must find the sword in the mermaid pool. Do you know where that is?"

Midoriya nodded. "A sword? What do I need that for?"

"I can no longer lift it," the man said urgently, pacing towards the entrance. "But perhaps you can." He turned, pausing to look at Midoriya. "You must take the sword and take Bakugou far away from here. Hide him away. I will find you when the time comes… What is your name?" he asked a second thought with a tilt of his head.

"Midoriya," he said breathlessly.

"Midoriya," All Might repeated. "I will find you when the time is right and explain this all to you. But for now, you must protect young Bakugou at all times."

Nodding, Midoriya followed him out of the cave, becoming drenched once again. "Be careful!" Midoriya called after him.

The frail looking man smiled at him crookedly before disappearing in a flash of gold.

Questions swarmed Midoriya's mind. What did this mean? He was like this All Might character? How? What did that mean for him? Or for Bakugou for that matter?

Midoriya looked back at the cave at the thought. Bakugou. Right. He had a mission. He needed to get Bakugou out of here, but where would he take him? He pressed a finger to his chin, thinking of all of the places he had visited in his journey to this part of his country. But the safest place he could think of was… home.

He nodded to himself and then turned to enter the cave. His fingers trailed against the rock walls as took a few tentative steps. His eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness of the cave and he paused, his back to the steady rain, at the scene in front of him.

Bakugou had moved himself to the wall, propping himself up gently. His right arm was pressed over his gouged wound, hand still smeared with the blood, his left arm braced slightly against the wall. Sweat sheened Bakugou's temple, blood tarnished the corners of his mouth. He breathed in hard gasps as his eyes snapped up at Midoriya. The look in his eyes.

"Kacchan," Midoriya said taking a step closer.

Bakugou's glare hardened at Midoriya's approach. "Come to finish me off?" he spat, muscles tensing. But the movement clearly hurt the boy as a storm of emotion shuttered over his face, following by a long-suffering gasp.

"I need to wrap that!" Midoriya cried, stumbling down to his side and picking up the cloth given to him by All Might.

Bakugou flinched back, eyes wild.

Midoriya paused, bandage outstretched, before deflating. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Kacchan," Midoriya told him miserably. "Shigaraki—"

Bakugou's eyes darted from Midoriya's face to the mouth of the cave. Looking closer, Midoriya could see that Kacchan's eyes were hazy, probably due to the blood loss or perhaps the pain. "It's going to be okay," Midoriya said. He reached forward again slowly, taking Kacchan's hand away from the cut. It was still oozing, but at least the bleeding was slowed with All Might's help.

Midoriya felt at his pocket and found that his small jar of pixie dust was still there. He yanked it out, unscrewing the top to dump a generous amount onto the bloody wound. The sparkling dust was absorbed into the blood. Midoriya repocketed the dust and then set to wrapping the cloth once around Bakugou's body, tying it off.

Sitting back, Midoriya found Bakugou looking at him warily, but still groggily. There was blood in his blonde locks, so Midoriya ignored the look Kacchan was giving him and pushed his bangs aside. He let his fingers linger on Kacchan's skin.

"Shigaraki made me do it," Midoriya told him finally. "I would never hurt you on purpose," he added forcefully. He could feel the truth of it flaring in his soul.

Midoriya was not sure how much of what he was saying was sticking with Bakugou though. Bakugou's eyes made it back to Midoriya's. "Kirishima?"

"Oh no," Midoriya jolted at Bakugou's words. He looked again at the cave entrance, the darkened sky, and he could hear still the sounds of a battle. How much of Kacchan's family would be injured after this? "Kacchan, listen to me," he said, moving to hoist Bakugou to his feet. "We have to go. All Might gave me a mission to keep you safe. We need to get this sword and we need to—"

"All Might?" Bakugou snapped, his eyes suddenly sharper than they have been.

"You know him?"

Bakugou grasped at Midoriya's shirt as he steadied him against his shoulder. "I've heard of him," he said. "He's a legend, not real…" But he looked panicked at the mention of the man. "Where's Kirishima?"

Together, they limped towards the entrance. Midoriya bit his lip before confessing, "He's fighting with Shigaraki and his gang."

"What?" Bakugou hissed. "I need to go help him!"

He struggled in Midoriya's grasp but Midoriya held on, knowing the larger boy would go down if he let go. "You can't Bakugou! We need to leave! I have to take you far away from here, All Might gave me this mission!"

Bakugou continued to push at him, struggling towards the edge of the cave. "You are just going to try to kidnap me? Take me away from Kirishima while he's fighting for me? I can't let him do that for me!"

"There are other dragons with him!" Midoriya hollered just as Bakugou finally ripped himself from Midoriya's grasp. He immediately gracelessly fell to the ground with a groan, right into the mud, once again being rained on. Midoriya groaned seeing Bakugou's blood soak through the makeshift bandage.

"My whole clan is out there and you want me to run?" Bakugou yelled at him.

"They want you, Kacchan! You are important to them! We need to get out of here!"

"I don't want to be important!" Bakugou screamed back. He attempted to pull himself to his feet but failed. "Damn it," his voice keened.

Midoriya grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at him. "Don't burden them in their battle! They'll only worry about you if you are there!"

Bakugou froze under his hold. His shocked expression stilled and Midoriya's heart beat thumped against his ears as he watched Bakugou take those words to heart. Midoriya wished he could take the words back; Bakugou wasn't a burden to anyone. But… if this got Bakugou to listen to him and to work with him, then he would just have to apologize later.

"Fucking useless," Bakugou muttered to himself. He looked back at Midoriya and wrapped his fingers into Midoriya's clothes. "Help me up. Then you can take me wherever you fucking want to."

Midoriya nodded, hoisted his friend up, and then tucked himself underneath Bakugou's arm and shoulder to keep the other upright. "We'll get out of here as soon. I just need to make one stop."

* * *

 **Hello! Sorry it's been 2 months! It's been a very busy 2 months with two vacations, several concerts, Thanksgiving, and my mom in the hospital. I should be back to regular updates now.**


	17. Chapter 17

The two stumbled down the side of the mountain with Midoriya practically dragging the injured Bakugou. Bakugou was of course doing his best to keep himself upright but his eyes continued to slip closed as he fought the urge to pass out.

The rain, still thick, made his family's distant roars more and more difficult to hear. He doubted Midoriya could even hear them with his human ears… The increasing silence made Bakugou breathless with every step.

"Almost there," Midoriya's voice shook.

Bakugou looked up from where he had been watching his feet with each forced step, to peer through the trees. They had been heading to the mermaid pool, as Midoriya explained, but Bakugou was still hesitant. Midoriya's words felt true, but everything inside of him screamed not to trust the other boy. Until he saw the sword himself, he would keep his guard up.

They made it to the pool and Midoriya gently eased him down to the bank's edge. Bakugou gripped Midoriya's vest as he went off balance, gritting his teeth against the pain of the wound. It was constant, sharp, aching.

"It will be just a second," Midoriya told him, backing away to glance at the mermaid pool.

"Do you even know how to swim?" Bakugou asked, remembering the last time they were here.

Midoriya averted his eyes. "Umm…"

"Are you kidding me?" Bakugou groaned with a toss of his head. "How do you expect to get a sword at the bottom without dying? Why don't we just have the mermaids get it for you?"

"I don't think it works that way, Kacchan," Midoriya said, sheepish.

Bakugou let the nickname slide and scrabbled his way to a sitting position, slowly inches towards the water.

"I can't let you go in!" Midoriya cried, attempting to grab onto his shoulder.

He slapped Midoriya's hand aside. "I'm not going to do that, idiot. I don't want to die. I'm just going to tell the mermaids to make sure you don't drown."

Midoriya withdrew his hand, chewing his lip. "Okay."

"Hey!" Bakugou hollered into the darkened waters. "Anyone down there?"

The pool was quiet for only a moment before several mermaids popped up, only coming up to reveal their eyes, but not much else. Midoriya watched anxiously as Bakugou pulled himself even closer to the edge, almost to the point of tipping in, and he had to hold his hands in his lap to keep from helping.

Bakugou spoke to them softly, "This idiot needs what is at the bottom, can you make sure he gets down there without drowning?"

"And back please," Midoriya chimed in.

Bakugou huffed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, and bring him back alive."

The mermaids said nothing. All but one disappeared back into the waters. The remaining mermaid watched him with her earie yellow eyes, flicking back and forth between Bakugou and Midoriya.

Bakugou tilted his head in Midoriya's direction. "You can get in. She's gonna help you."

"But she didn't say anything."

"Idiot, she can't speak outside of the water. Just get in already, we can't waste any more time if you really think we need to get out of here as soon as possible."

Midoriya did not think that was the only reason he was saying that. His blonde lashes were fluttering with exhaustion, his face was white as a sheet, and his hand pressed to his wounds were turning red with blood. Midoriya may have attempted to treat his wounds and All Might may have cured the internal damage, but Bakugou was clearly still in pain and still in danger of bleeding out.

Midoriya nodded, peeling off his soaking shirt and blinking rain out of his vision. "I'll make it quick."

He jumped in with his heart pounding, splashing hard, but not taking a second to process the too cold water, plunging deeper. The mermaid flanked him, grabbing onto his elbow and dragging him deeper and deeper into the darkness.

Midoriya was never great at holding his breath under water, considering he didn't know how to swim truly. So, it was no surprise to him that his lungs were already burning with the strain. He squinted into the darkness as they descended but it was now too dark to see.

Suddenly, it felt as they stopped moving. The hand on his elbow disappeared and for a moment, Midoriya felt terrified. He hadn't been abandoned down here to die, had he?

But the hand returned, this time to grab his wrist, pulling him forward slightly, until his hand met something solid. The sword.

As the hand disappeared again, he grabbed at the sword, twisting his hand until his hands were twisted around the handle. He forced his feet underneath him and heaved, pulling the sword with all his might.

His lungs were bursting. The time he had spent so far was a blur. He just knew he had to be out. Now.

He tugged once again at the sword but it stayed stationary. Not a budge.

Midoriya shook at it in his frustration, panicking. His heart pounded louder and his air was escaping from his lips in large bubbles. He couldn't lose himself to the panic this time. Just as he sucked in water into his airway, his mind blurred in terror and energy tore out of him. Golden light erupted forth, consuming the darkness, and revealed the glowing sword in his grasp. He had removed it from the ground!

Hands pulled at him as the light faded and the water moved around him. When he hit the surface, he coughed violently; even as the mermaids hoisted him back on shore, rolling him onto his side. The sword slid in the mud as he coughed.

Wincing, he looked up at Bakugou as he fought to catch his breath. "Sorry Kacchan," he wheezed, "I-I-I got it." He breathed in forcefully.

Bakugou did not respond. He was sitting close, hands out as if to help him, but he wasn't looking at Midoriya. His gaze was caught in the forest behind them, looking towards something perhaps Midoriya could not see. "What is it?"

Bakugou glanced at him, his eyes wide. "We need to get out of here."

"What?"

The other boy shot to his feet, although struggling, and held one hand out to Midoriya while the other pressed against his abdomen. His eyes flashed dangerously as he got impatient and grabbed Midoriya up by his armpit, grunting in pain. "We just have to get the fuck out of here, okay?" He glanced upwards and into the trees. This time Midoriya followed his gaze.

He saw it this time. The tree leaves were blackening at the tips, curling as the life drained. Midoriya gasped and turned back to Bakugou. His eyes looked hazy but he was awake, alert. "The forest would die with you," Midoriya blurted out.

Bakugou's face was stricken at his words and he didn't even resist as Midoriya pried himself from Bakugou's grip to grab up the sword and his clothes. He didn't bother putting it back on, choosing to wrap the shirt around his waist and stowing the sword in the makeshift sheath he had created with shirt. "Do I need to carry you?" he asked Bakugou as he adjusted the sword.

"No way," Bakugou shot back with a growl, even as he swayed on his feet. "I am perfectly fine."

"The trees would say otherwise," Midoriya told him, grabbing underneath Bakugou's arm. "I'll just help you, okay?"

Bakugou stayed quiet, watching the trees as if in a trance, submitting to Midoriya's help and leaning heavily unto him. They began to shuffle out of the clearing.

* * *

It felt like they were walking for an eternity in the slow labored pace Bakugou treaded. Midoriya's heart still thumped with adrenaline, becoming more fearful as Bakugou grew heavier to the point where he was almost dragging him. "How are you doing?" Midoriya asked, stumbling slightly in the mud.

"Just keep going," Bakugou said through gritted teeth.

A loud dragon screamed into the night just then and Midoriya felt Bakugou flinch as if he had been hit. Bakugou's head was lowered, so he couldn't see his expression but he could feel the agony pouring out of him.

"They'll all die because of me," Bakugou growled. His grip tightened on Midoriya. "It's all happening again. They'll all be dead and I'll be in that hellhole prison again."

Midoriya was breathless. What to say? What to do? Things were worsening with each heavy step that they took. At what point would they feel safe or at what point would they be caught?

Abruptly, a horse shot out from the bushes, zipping past them at full speed. Midoriya hardly got a good look at it before it was past. But whoever was on it had saw them and slid to a stop not far away.

Red and white hair. "Todoroki!" Midoriya called.

Todoroki looked back at the pair. "Midoriya!" He maneuvered the horse towards him, eyes wide. "We were trying to find you; we heard the noise…" he said looking back towards where the fight was surely happening. "What are you doing with him?"

Midoriya glanced back at Bakugou just as his head lolled against his shoulder. "No time, we need to get him somewhere safe!"

Todoroki jumped from the horse, grabbing Bakugou under his opposite arm. Together they hoisted him onto the horse, and with much struggle, the two got onto the horse sandwiching Bakugou in the middle.

Midoriya wrapped his arms around Bakugou and held tightly onto Todoroki's jacket, using his arms to prop Bakugou up. And with that, they shot out into the downpour, just as another dragon screamed in the distance.


End file.
